Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Perfect hijabs, perfect story

Hana’s Hundreds of Hijabs by Razeena Omar Gutta

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When you have a hobby, you know it can sometimes get out of hand, shall we say? And Hana’s hobby in Hana’s Hundreds of Hijabs is fashion! It is making hijabs sparkle and shine with the goodies she finds in her grandmother’s jewelry box and things found at her aunt’s hair salon. But things are getting out of control and are taking over nooks and crannies she did not know the family home had! When she learns about a way to share her talents, and […]

Stepping out of my comfort zone

Noor by Nnedi Okorafor

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My review for the Afrofuturism novel, Noor by Nnedi Okorafor AO is part human, part cybernetics. She is an example of how far we’ve allowed technology to become us and we it. We have allowed technology by this futuristic date, to control everything in our lives. Sure, we’ve harnessed clean wind and solar energy but at what price? “Big Corporation” owns everything. The media is controlled and with enough money, lies can be bought as truth. Therefore, in many ways, it is Now (with more […]

Heritage and pride

Yo Soy Muslim: A Father’s Letter to His Daughter by Mark Gonzales

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Yo Soy Muslim: A Father’s Letter to His Daughter caught my eye in an email newsletter. I was not sure I was going to like it. The cover with the young girl with large lips and larger eyes, and the father with the oddly shaped head, where awkward at first glance. But then there was the story. It may not be my favorite story, it might not become a classic, but it is a lovely story, a poem, with unique illustrations to send the message. […]

an excellent introduction to the history of the Black church in America

The Black Church: This Is Our Story, This Is Our Song by Henry Louis Gates, Jr

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As a practicing Christian, I’ve been trying over the past couple years to add more voices into my understanding of my faith, both theology and history, and this book, the companion to PBS’s recent documentary miniseries of the same title, was part of that slow ongoing project. It paired interestingly with Jemar Tisby’s The Color of Compromise, another recent read that focused on the white Christianity’s long history of complicity with racism; Gates, however, focuses on the agency of Black Christians in articulating their faith and […]

We’re all Misfits

Misfit in Love (Saints and Misfits) by S.K. Ali

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Janna Yusuf is a relatable young girl in Misfit in Love (Saints and Misfits book two) by S.K. Ali.  She is dealing with the ins and outs of love, friendship, change and finding a swimsuit that fits. And, oh yeah, she is Muslim, too. This piece of the puzzle that is Janna is a large part of her life, but regardless anyone who was/is almost 18 can relate to her boy troubles, big and little brothers’ woes, parents changing (or at least how we start […]

Turning in my Feminist Card

Our Stories, Our Voices: 21 YA Authors Get Real about Injustice, Empowerment, and Growing Up Female in America by Amy Reed

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I am turning in my Feminist Card now I have written this review that will most likely be controversial. While I agree with much of what was said in Our Stories, Our Voices: 21 YA Authors Get Real about Injustice, Empowerment, and Growing Up Female in America edited and introduction by Amy Reed, I had a hard time empathizing with most of the essays presented and therefore, had a hard time reading these essays by twenty-one authors. But then again, that was the point of […]



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