Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Mother-daughter dueling reviews

Trell: Nothing But The Truth by Dick Lehr

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CBR 16 Bingo – Liberate: The whole premise of the book is a daughter trying to liberate her father from prison. About a year and a half ago, my mom (LanierHgts) wrote this review. In it, she promised this “You should soon see a review from her about this book but you get mine first. Then you can read the book and decide who is right.” I would just like to say, I never agreed to do this, and I got sidetracked and forgot to […]

The sibling bond

The Firelight Apprentice by Bree Paulsen

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Due to the rushed ending, The Firelight Apprentice by Bree Paulsen is a 3.5 and not a 4. However, it is Paulsen and I like the books  I have read out of three I know they have written and illustrated.  The first was Garlic and the Vampire, and the second is The Firelight Apprentice. I have Garlic and the Witch waiting for me. (And to get it out of the way, all graphic novels are now currently available but I read this via an online […]

My love/hate relationship with surprises and how it lead me to finding a book to recommend

Dear Duck, Please Come! by Sarah MacKenzie

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I have a “Love/Hate” relationship with surprises. Especially if I expected to read something and something else pops up entirely!  I was going to read Because Barbara: Barbara Cooney Paints Her World  by Sarah Mackenzie and illustrated by Eileen Ryan Ewen, but when I clicked on the button to do so, Dear Duck, Please Come! by Sarah MacKenzie and illustrated by Charles  Santoso came up instead. So, me being me, I took it as a sign to read it. And actually, I’m glad I did. […]

Dogs slobber! They smell! They POOP! And they bark!

Dog Trouble by Kristin Varner

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Dog Trouble by Kristin Varner came up in my older online reader copies. I was at first not thinking I would read as I am a cat, not dog person, and the cover made me think I knew what was going to happen (a lot of chasing rowdy dogs that really aren’t cute but annoying and a kid who doesn’t “get” the seriousness of things). But it was more than that. At first things felt like “all the other books” about separated and/or divorced families […]

Finding home

Brownstone by Samuel Teer and Marina Julia

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Brownstone by Samuel Teer and Marina Julia was not what I expected. In many ways it was better, but also maybe not as strong as I had hoped. It was an interesting mixture of thoughts, feelings, actions and events. So much is going on, but nothing is ever really “perfectly” solved. Which is the point. There might not be a Happily Ever After, but you can get a Happy (Most of the Time) Together.  The artwork is simple, but full at the same time. The […]

La Brea Tar Pits: The Undercover investigation

Stuck! The Story of La Brea Tar Pits by Joyce Uglow

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While the text was a bit academic, it also has some poetic tone to the writing of Stuck! The Story of La Brea Tar Pits. Joyce Uglow presents the theme of death in the tar pit in a tasteful manner. Overall things are well done, educational and adapted for multiple ages. Perhaps it is not the “best book ever,”  but it is a solid science book. Uglow and Valerya Milovanova (the illustrator) created a younger looking (at first glance) story about how things over the […]



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