Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

A boy and his sister have a fight

Terrible Horses by Raymond Antrobus

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With a name like Terrible Horses one would expect a story about horses who are bullies or mischievous or misbehaving. And in a way, they are. Only the terrible horses in this book by Raymond Antrobus are the narrator’s older sister, and not actual horses. Told from the point of view of the younger brother (who we will learn is different), when he and his sister fight, they do not use words, but just push and pull. And they hurt each other. Then he goes off to […]

Baby, you’re a star

Bitsy Bat, School Star by Kaz Windness

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The theme of Bitsy Bat, School Star is simple. Bitsy does not fit in at school. But as her father says, why would you want to fit in? Afterall, Bitsy is a special star. Her special brain works differently because she is representing a neurodivergent person. She, like the author, Kaz Windness, is autistic. Of course, they do not come out and say that, but just use the natural senses of a bat  to represent the situations an autistic person might encounter. Such as loud […]

How do you listen?

Listen: How Evelyn Glennie, a Deaf Girl, Changed Percussion. by Shannon Stocker

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I will date myself and say when I was a kid there was a show called Punky Brewster. It was edgy for its time, and watching it today, I laugh at how Afterschool Special it was, but I still have found memories. And one of those was a woman, now I forget the actresses name, but she was deaf. In the story she was “just the janitor” and people thought her dumb because of her deafness. In the children’s music class, she was mimicking the […]

Be You. Everyone else is taken.

Just Ask!: Be Different, Be Brave, Be You by Sonia Sotomayor

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I kept seeing Just Ask!: Be Different, Be Brave, Be You on several lists. And I was sure I had read it. Or was I just assuming I had? I was not completely sure, to be honest. And come to find out, I was assuming. I had picked up a copy of the book and put it away in my TBR list but had never actually read Sonia Sotomayor’s book. Therefore, the other day at lunch saw me eating a peanut butter sandwich (unfortunately I […]

When One Book Closes, here are two others

Wild about Dads by Diana Murray

Little Monster Trucks GO! by Doug Cenko

I Will Dance by Nancy Bo Flood

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I cannot concentrate on long novels of late. When that happens (and occasionally it does), I turn to my picture books (hence why this is number 3 of a list of picture books today). No theme to these. Just three books I read, I liked and wanted to pass along to you. Wild about Dads  by Diana Murray (author), Amber Alvarez (illustrations) While I am giving this a 5, it is a 4.5 mostly because I wanted more! MORE dads and the things they do! […]

Don’t hide your light under a bushel, darling.

Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus by Dusti Bowling

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(Title quote is from Bertolt Brecht’s Mother Courage) Aven Green has a pretty great life as a middle schooler in Kansas.  She plays on the soccer team, has a wonderful group of friends, is a creative writer, and plays the guitar. She also has no arms. She was born without them, though if anyone asks about it (and boy do they), she always has a wild tale to tell them about where they went and how. But her life is about to be upended: her […]



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