Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time
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Bishop might take Knight, but the Queen wins

Elsa's Chessboard by Jenny Andrus

May 17, 2025 by BlackRaven Leave a Comment

For the grandmother that wanted to play chess with her granddaughter, author Jenny Andrus wrote Elsa’s Chessboard. She was a child who did not have interest in an “old dusty game,” but now she is giving us a peek at the woman who would change chess in ways unexpected. Based on the life of Elsa Konstandt Weisz, we go from Vienna to San Francisco as a young Jewish woman flees WWII and makes a new home in the United States, all the while keeping her […]

Filed Under: Biography/Memoir, Children's Books, Fiction, Health, History, Non-Fiction, Religion, Sports Tagged With: chess, Elsa Konstandt Weisz, europe, family, grandmothers, Immigration, Jenny Andrus, San Francisco, United States, World War II

BlackRaven's CBR17 Review No:280 · Genres: Biography/Memoir, Children's Books, Fiction, Health, History, Non-Fiction, Religion, Sports · Tags: chess, Elsa Konstandt Weisz, europe, family, grandmothers, Immigration, Jenny Andrus, San Francisco, United States, World War II ·
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Play ball, swim, tennis, hockey and more safely and comfortably

This Skirt Won't Work!: How Women Athletes Changed Their Clothes and Changed the Game by Jennifer Cooper

May 17, 2025 by BlackRaven Leave a Comment

History has many layers. Dresses can have many layers.  But whereas history plays out, it is hard to play most sports or ride a bicycle in dresses. Especially the outfits that many women athletes would wear before some enterprising women decided to change things up. This Skirt Won’t Work!: How Women Athletes Changed Their Clothes and Changed the Game by Jennifer Cooper and illustrator Eva Byrne follows how tennis went from a long skirt to a 1920s fashion statement. How women hockey players would change […]

Filed Under: Biography/Memoir, Children's Books, History, Non-Fiction, Poetry, Sports Tagged With: clothing, dresses & skirt, Eva Byrne, hockey, Jennifer Cooper, Social Themes, Swimming, tennis, women, women in sports

BlackRaven's CBR17 Review No:278 · Genres: Biography/Memoir, Children's Books, History, Non-Fiction, Poetry, Sports · Tags: clothing, dresses & skirt, Eva Byrne, hockey, Jennifer Cooper, Social Themes, Swimming, tennis, women, women in sports ·
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Comfort grease, foie gras and Mexican porn

Relish: My Life in the Kitchen by Lucy Knisley

May 16, 2025 by BlackRaven Leave a Comment

Relish: My Life in the Kitchen by Lucy Knisley is a graphic novel that I almost did not review here. Partly because it is from 2013 and who wants to read a book that old? Well, I did, so I figured maybe someone else would, too. And it is not just for a fan of Knisley (though you probably should be a fan as they have a lot of fun relatable memoir stories) and it is not just for foodies, though that might help a […]

Filed Under: Biography/Memoir, Comedy/Humor, Cooking/Food, Graphic Novels/Comic Books, Health, Non-Fiction, Young Adult Tagged With: Cartoonists, cooks, family, food habits, friendship, Gourmet, Lucy Knisley, travel

BlackRaven's CBR17 Review No:275 · Genres: Biography/Memoir, Comedy/Humor, Cooking/Food, Graphic Novels/Comic Books, Health, Non-Fiction, Young Adult · Tags: Cartoonists, cooks, family, food habits, friendship, Gourmet, Lucy Knisley, travel ·
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Do you think I read a lot?

Clara the Triumphant Rhinoceros: A True Story by Jane Kurtz

Woody's Words : Woodrow Wilson Rawls and Where the Red Fern Grows by Lisa Rogers

Woods & Words: The Story of Poet Mary Oliver. by Sara Holly Ackerman

May 16, 2025 by BlackRaven 1 Comment

Biographies are a fun genre.  You can find out fun facts about favorite authors, poets or even rhinoceroses. Yes, rhinoceroses can have a biography, too. After all, it is hard for them to hold a pencil in their hoof for them to write an autobiography. Therefore, I will start off with Clara the Triumphant Rhinoceros: A True Story (in case you doubt me that this is a biography of a rhino, there is “true story” in the title). Jane Kurtz created a story that gives […]

Filed Under: Biography/Memoir, Children's Books, Comedy/Humor, Fiction, Health, History, Non-Fiction, Poetry Tagged With: 1648-1789, animals, authors, Claire Messer, Clara the Rhinoceros, dogs, Human-animal relationships, Jane Kurtz, Lisa Rogers, mary oliver, Naoko Stoop, rhinoceros, Sara Holly Ackerman, Susan Reagan, Where the Red Fern Grows, Woodrow Wilson Rawls

BlackRaven's CBR17 Review No:273 · Genres: Biography/Memoir, Children's Books, Comedy/Humor, Fiction, Health, History, Non-Fiction, Poetry · Tags: 1648-1789, animals, authors, Claire Messer, Clara the Rhinoceros, dogs, Human-animal relationships, Jane Kurtz, Lisa Rogers, mary oliver, Naoko Stoop, rhinoceros, Sara Holly Ackerman, Susan Reagan, Where the Red Fern Grows, Woodrow Wilson Rawls ·
Rating:
· 1 Comment

Get A LOT of boxes of tissues

Yumi and Monster by Kam Redlawsk

May 16, 2025 by BlackRaven Leave a Comment

Get your boxes of tissues and then you can read Yumi and Monster by Kam Redlawsk. Due in September 2025 I read this via an online reader copy. And while I am curious how the finished copy will look, I am not sure I can read this bittersweet picture book. Yumi is a little girl who loves to play, but both her parents and the doctors say that will change. One day she is given a cane to help her walk (only we don’t hear […]

Filed Under: Biography/Memoir, Children's Books, Fantasy, Fiction, Health, Poetry Tagged With: Diseases, emotions, Feelings, friendship, Illness, Kam Redlawsk, monsters, Social Themes

BlackRaven's CBR17 Review No:270 · Genres: Biography/Memoir, Children's Books, Fantasy, Fiction, Health, Poetry · Tags: Diseases, emotions, Feelings, friendship, Illness, Kam Redlawsk, monsters, Social Themes ·
Rating:
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From Yehiel to Henri

The Sky Was My Blanket: A Young Man's Journey Across Wartime Europe by Uri Shulevitz

May 16, 2025 by BlackRaven Leave a Comment

Uri Shulevitz can spin a yarn.  And when it is based in/about real events they hit even harder. One of the last writings of Shulevitz, The Sky Was My Blanket: A Young Man’s Journey Across Wartime Europe (due in August 2025, read via an online reader copy), takes another true World War II story and brings it to life in emotional text.  This time, instead of following Uri’s story during the war, we follow one of his fathers younger brothers, Yehiel’s parallel journey during the […]

Filed Under: Biography/Memoir, Graphic Novels/Comic Books, History, Non-Fiction, Religion, Young Adult Tagged With: europe, family, French Resistance, Holocaust, Poland, spanish civil war, Underground, Uri Shulevitz, World War II, Yehiel Shulevitz

BlackRaven's CBR17 Review No:269 · Genres: Biography/Memoir, Graphic Novels/Comic Books, History, Non-Fiction, Religion, Young Adult · Tags: europe, family, French Resistance, Holocaust, Poland, spanish civil war, Underground, Uri Shulevitz, World War II, Yehiel Shulevitz ·
Rating:
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