Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

No bed of roses

The Language of Flowers: A Novel by Vanessa Diffenbaugh

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I downloaded this novel last summer because the main character is a product of the foster care system in the US and I thought it would have some interesting things to say about that system and the difficulties it presents to children in it. In some ways the novel does do that, but mainly it is a reflection on parenthood and flawed parenting. How do you become a good adult/parent if you haven’t had one? The story is told from the point of view of […]

Now Hear This

The Poet X: A Novel by Elizabeth Acevedo

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The Poet X is a novel written in verse and the recipient of many prestigious awards including the National Book Award for Young People’s Literature. In this impressive debut work, Elizabeth Acevedo demonstrates with passion and heart both the power and the vital necessity of being heard, especially when you are a young woman of color. And conversely, the novel shows the terrible destructive power of being silenced, ignored and relegated to an object, a mere physical body subject to the rules and punishments of […]

When White Allies are Enemies

Our Nig by Harriet E. Wilson

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Full title: Our Nig; or Sketches from the Life of a Free Black, in a Two-Story House, North. Showing That Slavery’s Shadow Falls Even There Edited by Henry Louse Gates, Jr. with an Afterword by Barbara A. White In the early 1980s, the eminent scholar Henry Louis Gates, Jr., established that the 1859 novel entitled “Our Nig” was in fact written by an African American woman named Harriet E. Wilson. Previously, it had been assumed that the story was written by a white woman but […]

“Rumors are born with legs that can run a mile in less than a minute. Rumors eat up dreams without condiments. Rumors do not have expiration dates. Rumors can be deadly. Rumors can get you killed.”

Monday's Not Coming by Tiffany D Jackson

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Jeez. And I thought Sadie was a dark and bleak YA offering. In Monday’s Not Coming by Tiffany Jackson, dark and bleak would look pretty good. This book is tough to get through. But not because of the writing, which was beautiful at times. Its tough because its is painfully realistic, and real life doesn’t always have a happy ending. After a summer away visiting her grandparents, Claudia comes back to school, excited to see her best (and really, only) friend, Monday. But Monday doesn’t […]

A heartbreaking YA mystery

Monday’s Not Coming by Tiffany D. Jackson

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“This is the story of how my best friend disappeared. How nobody noticed she was gone except me. And how nobody cared until they found her … one year later.” Thus opens this riveting YA novel which deals with the topic of missing girls of color and our criminal indifference to them. Winner of the 2019 Coretta Scott King Book Award/John Steptoe Award for New Talent, Monday’s Not Coming is the story of the disappearance of Monday Charles, an 8th grader from a tough Washington, […]

No Sophomore Slump Here

On the Come Up by Angie Thomas

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On the NYT book list for Young Adult/Hard Cover, Angie Thomas reigns as queen. Her debut novel The Hate U Give has been at or near the top of the list for 103 weeks. It is currently number two. The number one spot is held by Angie Thomas’ follow up, On the Come Up. Thomas takes us back to the Garden Heights neighborhood but we see it from a different perspective this time. Brianna Jackson, known as Bri, is a teenager who lives immersed in the […]



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