Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Two girls, couple mysteries and basketball.

Shirley and Jamila Save Their Summer by Gillian Goerz

Shirley and Jamila's Big Fall by Gillian Goerz

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When ten-year-olds Shirley and (new girl) Jamila meet accidentally at a local tag sale, their summer takes an interesting turn, one that neither expected it to take. They not only find a way to not go to the summer camps their mothers have signed them up for and find a bit of freedom, they also solve a case of stolen property and a missing gecko, not to mention they become friends. All of this and a bit more happens in Shirley and Jamila Save Their […]

The Girl, The Bully and what happens next

Yaqui Delgado Wants to Kick Your Ass by Meg Medina

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I read the graphic novel Yaqui Delgado Wants to Kick Your Ass. I had wanted to read the novel first, but never got around to it. But I found the graphic novel, read it and then found the novel version. And having read the graphic novel first, it was hard not to compare the two, but I tried not to. However, there is a large difference between the two.  While the graphic novel has a “today” feeling (21st century) there is a less modern feeling […]

The nature of a boy

Pansy Boy by Paul Harfleet

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The theme of Pansy Boy is familiar, but the presentation is new. The artwork is unusual and classical. The “ugly” and “beauty” (the ugly of the hateful things that are said, and the beauty of the young boy, the birds, and the flowers) are shown in fresh ways to move things along. Paul Harfleet made an experience book. The rhyming aspect could work for some people, but sometimes it took me out of the moment. The overall theme of things is bullying because the main […]

A berry-colored world

My Own World by Mike Holmes

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Some Spoilers below:  I was not sure what I expected with My Own World, but this is an odd book. I am not sure if author Mike Holmes is basing it off of their own experiences, or if it is a universal story about the misfit and how he tries to overcome things.  If you are a 10-to-14-year-old, you might take it at face value: a boy finds/creates a magic world to hide in. It is a world where he is in charge (unlike his […]

Getting the beat

Garvey's Choice: The Graphic Novel by Nikki Grimes

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Recently, Garvey’s Choice: The Graphic Novel by Nikki Grimes and illustrated by Theodore Taylor III found itself on my reading pile again. However, I was a few pages in before I realized I had read it before. It was funny how a book that I had enjoyed had been forgotten, but even though I had plenty of other things to read, it felt like a good idea to read again instead of moving onto something else. This reading allowed the story to become a bit […]

Outside of their comfort zone

Haru: Book 1: Spring by Joe Latham

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Haru: Book 1: Spring by Joe Latham is a fantasy story with the fantasy elements of adventure. There is a ghost mother, a cursed artifact, and magical and magical-like situations. We also have a coming of age aspect with the bullying Haru faces at school. Then there is the character The Dark. It is creepy AF. But also, due to the way Latham has created it, it can be seductive, or at least is (pick one or all that fit), beautiful, romantic, dark, scary, creepy, […]



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