Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Was he the weather vane being blown bout? Or was he the wind blowing the art? Or was he just a big hack?

Andy Warhol: A Graphic Biography (BioGraphics) by Michele Botton

by Leave a Comment

Andy Warhol: A Graphic Biography (BioGraphics) by Michele Botton and illustrated by Marco Maraggi is told from the point of view of Warhol himself. As we go through several sections of his life, the unfolding of his life is chronological and compact. While it is obviously a pro-Warhol graphic novel and honors his work and influences on the people around him, and the historical times (and not just in art and/or pop art, but in music, photography and film as well), the question of “hack […]

My Favorite YA Since Rainbow Rowell!

Twelfth Knight by Alexene Farol Follmuth

by Leave a Comment

Author Alexene Farol Follmuth (aka Olivie Blake of The Atlas Six fame) wrote Twelfth Knight as an adaptation of Shakespeare’s play, Twelfth Night. And, as the writer herself notes in the back matter of the book, the novel is written in the vein of early 2000s teen rom-coms (I’m thinking She’s the Man, for obvious reasons). The book follows the lives of two main characters: Viola “Vi”  Reyes and Jack “Duke” Orsino. Vi presents to her schoolmates as unapologetically herself – blunt, smart, and a […]

I don’t know what the excitement is all about. It’s not like sharks attack people or anything….

I Survived the Shark Attacks of 1916: A Graphix Book by Lauren Tarshis and adapted by Georgia Ball

by Leave a Comment

I set myself two goals this year. One was to read a book a day (it averages out to that, but I actually didn’t read a book every day), and the second was to do 12 Cannonballs. As of this review I have 26 books to go… We’ll see! So, one of the ways I was trying to read a book a day was to do simple books. Not books that were simplistic (See Jane. See Dick. See Dick and Jane), but easier reads, fun […]

Family and Monsters

Family Force V: Book One by Matt Braly

by Leave a Comment

Part Power Rangers, part Transformers, part Voltron and all superheroes and space monsters is how I describe Family Force V: Book One. Matt Braly’s graphic novel (read via an online reader copy, due mid June 2025) will be worth the wait for you or your preteen/teen reader. This coming of age story is one we know (your destiny is forced on you, but you choose the path that takes) is not new, but the way it’s presented is fun, humorous and cute. It is not […]

Finding Happy

The Happy Shop by Brittany Long Olsen

by Leave a Comment

The Happy Shop by Brittany Long Olsen was a book I had on my TBR for awhile now. I didn’t know what to expect, except it was a graphic novel and would have some type of magic in it. And in the short run, that is what it is all about: A girl finds a magical shop, magical things happen, she makes magical friends. Yet, there is a bit more. It is about how and why the girl is in need of a magical shop. […]

Boy: Part Two

The Boy From Clearwater: Book Two by Yu Pei-Yun, Jian-Xin Zhou and Lin King

by Leave a Comment

About a month or so ago I read The Boy From Clearwater: Book One by Yu Pei-Yun, Jian-Xin Zhou and Lin King (Translator). At the time I didn’t think I would go onto book two, The Boy From Clearwater: Book Two, but something said I should and located an interlibrary loan copy from my local library.  Usually sequels are not as strong as the first book, but while I feel the first book was stronger in many aspects, this second book has strong pieces of […]



Help Our Mission

You can donate to CBR via:

  1. PayPal
  2. Venmo