Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

A conversation between two poets

Wise Up! Wise Down!: A Poetic Conversation by John Agard and JonArno Lawson

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The last few weeks have been filled with one thing after another! I needed some down time for reading as what I have found of late is pretty tough. Prison camps, transgender issues, first crushes, The Holocaust. Therefore I found this odd and little looking book called,  Wise Up! Wise Down!: A Poetic Conversation by John Agard, JonArno Lawson and illustrated by Satoshi Kitamura on line and read it for a nice winding down. This book is a unique mix of subjects and forms for […]

Family, faith and More

Almost Sunset by Wahab Algarmi

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Almost Sunset by Wahab Algarmi is a relatable story of trying to balance it all, but with the addition of being a Muslim which many readers (strong 8 to 12-13) might not be familiar with. Overall, things are sweet, fun and informative. However, my score of a 3 is more of a 3.5 as there were a few things I would have liked to know more about and a few arcs in the story were not my favorite.  The cover gives you how the illustrations […]

The Book Lovers Guide

Book Love by Debbie Tung

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I probably cannot say enough good things about Book Love by Debbie Tung. Has the theme been done before? Yes, these are not new issues book lovers have had to deal with. However  they are just fun, everyday issues, loves, joys and heartbreaks of the reader. Each page makes them come alive in silly, cute, relatable black and white images. If you have ever considered yourself a Reader with a capital R,  this is the book you want to read when you need a break […]

Flamingos are now in the top ten of my favorite birds

Flamingos Are Pretty Funky: A (Not So) Serious Guide by Abi Cushman

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I do not think I have seen a book about flamingos that I have ever wanted to read before I found this one. But the cover of Flamingos Are Pretty Funky: A (Not So) Serious Guide by Abi Cushman, with the words Funky and Not So Serious on it, really grabbed my attention. Especially funky. How can flamingos be funky??? They stand there on one leg. They are on the pink and white color spectrum. They eat food that makes them that color. They have […]

Just a couple of moms and their talking cats

Urban Tails by Ilana Zeffren

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I first found Urban Tails by Ilana Zeffren as an online reader copy, though the book has been available since May 2022. I was having trouble reading it online due to the illustrations. The text bled into the images. The colors were dull and this made things feel unfinished overall. The story wasn’t engaging me. But there was something about it that made me want to read it. I knew there was something there. Perhaps it was because it was about Israel. Or because there […]

Freshman Blues

How It All Ends by Emma Hunsinger

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How It All Ends by Emma Hunsinger is a coming of age story that we know: Girl has trouble fitting in during high school. She is not ready for the trials of being a teen. But, the thing is, she isn’t really a teen. She should be an 8th grader. She should be having homeroom, going to Six Flags, starting a first crush; not having to deal with boys who think interrupting their English teacher is funny. Doing group projects with a boy (thankfully she […]



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