Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Self discovery and gender with a little musical accompaniment

A Song for You and I by K. O'Neill

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I always enjoy K. O’Neill’s writing, however, I found A Song for You and I a smidgen not as strong as usual. I think the issue was I was reading via an online reader copy and there were black and white images and not the full color illustrations of the final product. And since the book relies on the illustrations for most of the story, it was not what I needed. However, the story of being “other” and the fear and confusion that produces is […]

Two girls, couple mysteries and basketball.

Shirley and Jamila Save Their Summer by Gillian Goerz

Shirley and Jamila's Big Fall by Gillian Goerz

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When ten-year-olds Shirley and (new girl) Jamila meet accidentally at a local tag sale, their summer takes an interesting turn, one that neither expected it to take. They not only find a way to not go to the summer camps their mothers have signed them up for and find a bit of freedom, they also solve a case of stolen property and a missing gecko, not to mention they become friends. All of this and a bit more happens in Shirley and Jamila Save Their […]

Heartbreaker Dressed Up in Bright, Fun Colors

The Story of Tracy Beaker by Jacqueline Wilson

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Well, that was certainly not what I was expecting… In an effort to read more classic books, I was recently perusing the BBC’s The Big Read list of 200 books.  Coming second, only to Terry Pratchett, was Jacqueline Wilson with 14 books on the list.  This surprised me because, as an American, I was not familiar with her or her works.  In Britain, she is a much beloved children’s literature author, with the “Tracy Beaker” stories being amongst her most prominent. The cover of the […]

Magic!!! (jazz hands)

Pacheco and the Witch of the Mountain: A Graphic Novel by Juan E. Zambrano

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We have seen this story before: Boys cannot do magic. They cannot be witches. The non witches also think witches are evil and bad. Witches think non witches are beneath them and if they have any trace of magic it is not pure and therefore not worthy of paying attention to.  But in Pacheco and the Witch of the Mountain: A Graphic Novel by Juan E. Zambrano (due June 2025) this story is told with a bit of fun and humor, plus a few twists […]

From Canada to Hong Kong, with Love

Uprooted by Ruth Chan

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Ruth has only known life in Canada. But when her Chinese-born father has a job opportunity in Hong Kong, he and his wife excitedly make plans to move back to their home country, uprooting Ruth from the only life she has known. Her older brother is a boarding school student and gets to stay behind, so Ruth, their pets, and her parents set off to start over. At least, it’s starting over for Ruth. She speaks a little Cantonese, as her parents insist on using […]

I wanna be her when I grow up!

Wanda Hears the Stars: A Blind Astronomer Listens to the Universe by Amy S. Hansen, Wanda Diaz Merced and Rocio Arreola Mendoza

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Of course astronomers are not people we see a lot in biographies for children and especially women astronomers. But when you find a book called Wanda Hears the Stars: A Blind Astronomer Listens to the Universe you think, “Did I see that right? A female astronomer?”  Then you see the word “blind” and realize she was also blind. What the fudge…..????? And, yes, we read that right. Amy S. Hansen with Wanda Díaz Merced, and illustrated by Rocio Arreola  Mendoza created a book about Merced. […]



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