Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Something sweet

On the Corner of Chocolate Avenue: How Milton Hershey Bought Milk Chocolate to America by Tziporah Cohen

Milloo's Mind: the Story of Maryam Faruqi, Trailblazer for Women's Education by Reem Faruqi

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This is the first year I do not have a nephew in school. I have three cousins who are still going (one who is a junior or senior in high school, one almost in high school and one almost (or is) junior high), but it is not the same. Do I feel old? A little, but because I am mostly young at heart, and I can read picture books, I can still think I am that kid reading 100 books for summer reading challenges and […]

When you read just one more and it turns into four

Hello Animals: A Board Book Gift Collection by Loes Botman

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I sometimes think that I read too much. And then I decide I will take a break from reading, but before I do, I will read one more little thing. And I have said before, I am trying to clean up my online reader links (not that I am ever going to come close) and landed on one that is a four board book collection by Loes Botman. They are part of a series called Hello Animals. They are cute, simple, but as it was online I […]

Remember the nothing class of Home Ec? Turns out it’s got a past.

The Secret History of Home Economics by Danielle Dreilinger

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What do chemistry, business, politics, and social justice have in common? I’m betting that no one would have automatically though “Home Economics!” but that’s exactly what The Secret History of Home Economics show. It all started with Catharine Beech, Olivia Washington (3rd wife of Booker T.), and Ellen Swallow in the late 1800s where educational opportunities for women were few and far between. By contextualizing studying chemistry as women as a way to develop better household practices, these ladies and more like them developed one […]

Hop on the bus, Gus You don’t need to discuss much…just say your ABCs

The Library Bus by Bahram Rahman

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The Library Bus by Bahram Rahman will see a paperback edition in August of 2022. This story is about how some Afghan girls are able to achieve an education. Once a week, a young girl’s mother, in the dark of the morning, takes a special bus with no seats but a lot of books off to a village and the refugee camp. Pari’s (our young narrator) mother also teaches the children the English alphabet. We, and Pari, learn a little about why this is happening, […]

Sssshhh! It’s a secret!

Secret Schools: True Stories of the Determination to Learn by Heather Camlot

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If it had not been for a secret schooling system, we would not have had Marie Currie or Janusz Korczak (born Henryk Goldszmit). If it had not been for secret schooling, Japanese immigrants and their decedents would have lost their language and culture in Brazil. If it had not been for secret schooling in a South African prison, the man that would become of the first elected black leader of the country, Nelson Mandela, would probably have not been. If it had not been for […]

Must love cats

P Is for Purr by Carole Gerber

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P Is for Purr and for Perfect, and Packed, and Powerful and Pretentious. And only three of those descriptor words are correct to describe this book (if you cannot guess, it is not pretentious). This is an alphabet book that takes basic or common things about cats (they purr for P) and some educational things (X for Xanthus Av Jostedalsbreen or Norwegian Forest Cat) and makes a cute book for cat lovers of all ages. Carole Gerber and Susanna Covelli must love cats. A lot. […]



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