Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

“There are no squids in America!” (a la An American Tale)

The Pretender by K. A. Applegate

The Attack by K. A. Applegate

The Exposed by K. A. Applegate

The Sickness by K.A. Applegate

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I don’t know how they did it, but these Animorphs books just keep getting crazier. I’m almost sad I skipped a few “skippable” titles, cuz what crazy hijinks am I missing?! Book 23 – The Pretender A Tobias book. Tobias is having weird flashes when he hunts small prey, where he finds himself seeing the POV of said prey. He also learns a cousin is looking for him (since he seemingly disappeared into nowhere after becoming a hawk-4-life). Turns out that person was just Visser-3 […]

There is nothing a dragon loves more than gold, except for maybe bread.

The Bakery Dragon by Devin Elle Kurtz

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  I had a plan when I went into my LBS; grab the four books I had gone there specifically for, pay, and get out. And then I saw this book and I couldn’t resist. I have a soft spot for dragons, and a weakness for beautiful children’s book illustrations; I didn’t even look inside. (I also picked up two greeting cards to use as bookmarks because they were hysterical, but they don’t factor much into this review. Suffice to say, a card of Isaac […]

“Because We’re All Smart Cookies.”

The Smart Cookie by Jory John and Pete Oswald

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Total and complete honesty here: I only have this book because the woman at my local bookstore upsold it to me as I was already buying a different children’s book and the art was cute enough that I didn’t tell her no. The Smart Cookie is the fifth book (apparently) in the Food Group series; previous entries in the series consist of The Bad Seed, The Good Egg, The Cool Bean, and The Couch Potato. Being children’s books, the very, very cutesy titles are probably […]

Talk to an adult, Harry!

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling, narrated by Stephen Fry

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My family and I have continued listening to the Stephen Fry–narrated Harry Potter audiobooks during long car rides to visit relatives. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, the third book in the series, is one of my personal favourites. I especially love how it ties together the story so far while reaching back to James Potter’s own time at Hogwarts and the friendships he formed there. Listening to this instalment was particularly engaging for my eight-year-old, who asked plenty of questions and was always […]

“Fine,” Grandpa said. “You fetch your evil Librarian mother from the jail. I’ll go warm up the giant penguin!”

The Dark Talent: Alcrataz vs. The Evil Librarians Book Five by Brandon Sanderson

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  After the events of the last book, The Shattered Lens,  Alcatraz Smedry and the ragtag army of relations and allies  must make their way to the heart of Librarian power to find the cure to Bastille’s and the Mokian’s comas: The Library of Congress. Alcatraz also has to stop his father, Attica, from implementing his plan of giving everyone in the world Talents like the Smedrys have, well had; Alcatraz broke them all in the big battle at the end of the previous book. […]

Mom’s ups and downs

My Mom Is Like a Kite by Lisl H. Detlefsen

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While mental health issue stories are not new, even in children’s books, Lisl H. Detlefsen makes a fresh and creative work in My Mom Is Like a Kite. I assumed that the Mom in question would probably have highs and lows, but I did not expect them to be as serious as they are. I assumed this would be a lighthearted story about feelings, one that says even adults are happy, sad, scared, etc. You know, real emotions. This is partly because Nathalie Dion’s illustrations […]



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