Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Come for the art, stay for the bigger picture

Standing in the Need of Prayer: A Modern Retelling of the Classic Spiritual by Carole Boston Weatherford

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Recently I have noticed that while the text of the picture books I have been reading is good and/or strong, and the subjects important, I am leaning towards the artwork for it to be a hit or miss in the end. And Standing in the Need of Prayer: A Modern Retelling of the Classic Spiritual strongly falls into that category. Carole Boston Weatherford’s picture book is a must read. The theme is a wonderful spiritual that explains the history of enslaved people, of the strength […]

R-E-A-D Please!

R-E-S-P-E-C-T: Aretha Franklin, the Queen of Soul by Carole Boston Weatherford

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I had hoped to like R-E-S-P-E-C-T: Aretha Franklin, the Queen of Soul by Carole Boston Weatherford a bit more than I did. Perhaps my desire to like it “a lot” made it impossible for the result to live up to my expectations. Yet in the end, I enjoyed reading this glimpse into Franklin’s world. It just will probably not be on my top ten of favorite picture books I read this year list. This book is simple, but not simplistic. We see the life and […]

“Mama always knew the wrong thing to say.”

Beauty Mark: a Verse Novel of Marilyn Monroe by Carole Boston Weatherford

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In this slim volume, Weatherford imagines a memoir written by Monroe, chronicling her life from her tumultuous childhood in foster care to her troubled final days in her L.A. home.  It includes both personal, introspective pieces about Monroe’s internal struggles as well as pieces that catalog her film career and persona, and the public response to it. I devour any biographical media of Monroe’s as she is my number one icon. As a teen, I stole a poster of her from a neighboring school’s production […]



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