Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Adult literacy

My Kentucky Moonlight School by Kim Michele Richardson

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My Kentucky Moonlight School is another book (read via an online reader) due in August 2026 but is a must to talk about now. Kim Michele Richardson’s story is about a family, their community and how they learn to read during “Moonlight sessions” of schooling. It is sweet, educational and even a little humorous at times.  This is enhanced by Chloe M. Giroux who illustrates the adventures of this family with earthy tones, bright shading and light use, and just the right amount of details. […]

Some cheer

The Old Sleigh by Jarrett Pumphrey and Jerome Pumphrey

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As another companion to the stories The Old Truck and The Old Boat, (which I do not believe I have read) the book The Old Sleigh is added to the clever creators Jarrett Pumphrey and Jerome Pumphrey stories. A horse-drawn sleigh against a snowy background is loaded with the firewood a boy and father cut and deliver to a small village. As the village grows and the sleigh starts to fall about as it ages, we see how the changes happen and though things have […]

The defining feeling of my childhood was that of being told there wasn’t a problem when I knew damn well there was.

Heartland: A Memoir of Working Hard and Being Broke in the Richest Country on Earth by Sarah Smarsh

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It wasn’t all bad, that poor rural place. Though money was scarce, you would have had your basic needs met because we knew how to grow and build things. ― Sarah Smarsh, Heartland: A Memoir of Working Hard and Being Broke in the Richest Country on Earth I am grateful for my early life, and I wouldn’t wish it on any child. ― Sarah Smarsh, Heartland: A Memoir of Working Hard and Being Broke in the Richest Country on Earth The women I knew were […]

Fill ‘er up

Buddy the Bucket Filler by Maria Dismondy and Carol McCloud

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Buddy is a bucket filler. And in Buddy the Bucket Filler we find out what this is (doing nice things to help other people fill their imaginary happiness bucket) and how to do it. Maria Dismondy and Carol McCloud create a short story about how Buddy, a young kid visiting his great uncle for a week during the summer, helps the people of Uncle Frank’s town. They find ways to get barbecue sauce to the barbecue picnic. They help a neighbor carry her groceries; they […]

A Remembrance of Things Past

Walter Benjamin at the Dairy Queen : Reflections on Sixty and Beyond by Larry McMurtry

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I have great affection for everything about this book: the Dairy Queen cover photo, the West Texas rumination, the author’s cherishing of books and words. What a delicious book. That DQ photo reminds me of the Dairy Queen I’d often stop at in Goldthwaite, Texas, at the intersection of Highway 183 and 16. I used to go there as a teenager when driving to college. Now I take my own kids there now when passing through. A DQ can be a cultural hub in a […]

Love, Hound Dogs and Country Music

Dear Hank Williams by Kimberly Willis Holt

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I like Kimberly Willis Holt as an author. I think most things she has written, even if I am not a huge fan, I will enjoy. Yet, I really went at Dear Hank Williams with no expectations. Granted, my first thought was “How many kids are going to know who Hank Williams is?” But soon realized that is not the important part. This book might be set in the late 1940’s but in many ways, it could be set almost anytime. There is some history […]



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