Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Ms. Was told me this book was a gem and, by gum, she was right!

The Assassination of Brangwain Spurge by M.T. Anderson and Eugene Yelchin

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As a book lover, nothing delights me more than when a friend recommends a book to me and, after reading it, I’m able to go back and tell her that I unequivocally loved it. For a few years now, Ms. Was has been singing the praises of The Assassination of Brangwain Spurge, and now I’m finally able to say, “Thank you for introducing me to this gem.” Brangwain Spurge is an elf entrusted with an important mission: Enter the land of the goblins and deliver […]

“Wouldn’t it be dreadful if some day in our own world, at home, men start going wild inside, like the animals here, and still look like men, so that you’d never know which were which.”

Prince Caspian (The Chronicles of Narnia, #4) by C.S. Lewis

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This book was always my favorite of the series. Something about the kids coming back to Narnia only a year later, but it having been hundreds, maybe thousands of years in the meantime, and their former castle of Cair Paravel now a ruin they have to unearth, and the quest to reclaim Narnia from ill-doers was just so very appealing to me as a kid and young adult. A large part of my affection for it still exists in the many, many re-reads I did […]

Wasn’t expecting a cliffhanger!

Shadow Weaver by MarcyKate Connolly

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CBR12 BINGO: Violet BINGO (4 corners and center square): Red, Music, Violet, Money, Yellow While searching online for a book to fill the violet category, I was drawn to the lovely illustration of a girl and her violet shadow on the cover of Shadow Weaver. I only wish I’d done a little research first and learned that there is a part 2 to this story, because part 1 leaves the reader with many unanswered questions. Shadow Weaver starts with an original and rather charming premise: […]

*Almost* Twenty years later and still a Potter head!

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K.Rowling

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This is the second installment of the illustrated Harry Potter books. I love reading these books with my 7-year old son. They have just enough illustrations to keep him interested from page to page, especially since this is an unabridged version of the books. There are even a few extras, like this page: Not only is it relevant to the story, but it offers a little bit of extra information for those who can’t get enough of the wizarding world. In this story, we meet […]

“Not that an asteroid crashing into our planet is a good thing, but it does put everything else into perspective.”

The World Ends in April by McAnulty, Stacy

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Eleanor Dross is getting a little weary of her life. School, as always, is terrible. She has only one friend, and while Mack is the best, she could do without everyone else ignoring her or worse.  Her grades? Let’s not talk about it. And home life, it’s fine, but nothing to, well, write home about. Her recently widowed dad is doing his best. And they have Grandpa Joe to help out too. But Joe is a “prepper” – that is to say, he’s most excited […]

“She looked in the mirror and gasped. Melissa gasped back at her. For a long time, she stood there, just blinking. George smiled, and Melissa smiled too.”

George by Alex Gino

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This was such a lovely little book. I’m glad it exists, and not just for little trans kids, but for all kids. It encourages empathy, imagination, and kindness, something all kids (and grown-ups) can always benefit from. George is the birthname of our female protagonist, who is in the 4th grade, and knows that even though she was born with a boy’s body, inside she has always been a girl. She has never told anyone this (although we get hints that her family knows something […]



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