Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

One seed

Big Tree by Brian Selznick

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While I did not completely love the grainy illustrations of Big Tree by Brian Selznick, I understand the reason for them and appreciate them. And there were several that were more fleshed out, but they felt few and far between. The story is a mature environmental tale with spiritual elements that is told by two seeds from a seed pod from Mama Sycamore. It does not sound like it makes sense, but it does, even if sometimes the flow of the story felt to be not as […]

I keep finding new books to read and then review!

Table Titans Club by Scott Kurtz

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I like a good graphic novel. I like ones that capture relatable subjects and can be humorous. And of course, I like serious ones too, but I was in the mood for something that was funny. And Table Titans Club (I am assuming it is the first in a series, since how it ended) looked funny. Scott Kurtz did not disappoint.  The story of three friends (Alan, Darius and Andrew) who ask the new girl Val (though reluctantly on Alan’s part), and the dismay of their sort-of friend Kate, to […]

May I Take Your Coat?

The North Wind and the Sun by Philip C. Stead

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Though the story within the pages of The North Wind and the Sun is one of “you get more bees with honey than vinegar” (I don’t like flies) is not new, but the way the author presents things takes on a fresh feeling. The art is child-like but far from childish. Perhaps more for an adult than the usual picture book crowd, this is a delightful book for anyone’s library. Philip C. Stead has adapted (or retold) a folk tale that I am unfamiliar with. Perhaps […]

Hi I’m your new bunk mate and my body count is 1

Teen Killers Club (volume one) by Lily Sparks

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Both predictable and a few surprises, Teen Killers Club (volume one) has a few bumps and bruises and some killings. Okay, a lot of killing. The overall of this novel I enjoyed, however, there were several parts I did not. The biggest two were Signal (our innocent member of this summer camp from heck) is a major Damsel in Distress and she thinks she can change people just by loving them. Even murderers who really like their “hobby.”  There are several heavy-handed plot points, some […]

Slam poetry on the page

Composition by Junious Ward

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For full disclosure, I was about half way through this poetry collection when I started my review. I was not “feeling it” and put the book down. However, since then, I have read more. The poetry of Composition by Junious Ward is very subject focused and the style is mostly non-traditional with artistic language. Some poems are easy to read and understand as they are set in a traditional format, whereas others (such as the one that has been “blacked out” leaving only a few […]

Rabbit go home

Watership Down: The Graphic Novel by James Sturm

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Watership Down: The Graphic Novel adapted by James Sturm and illustrated by Joe Sutphin took Richard Adams’ novel and made it into a lovely book about the power of the people, and lovely illustrations that show the good and the darkness around them. The story is the one you know and maybe loved as a child, but I was fresh to the story for the most part. I knew that there would be rabbits and people had said it was dark, but other than that, I had […]



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