Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Purple thumbs and stabby plants

Prunella by Beth Ferry

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Along with Millie Fleur’s Poison Garden by Christy Mandin, the picture book Prunella by Beth Ferry and illustrated by Claire Keane, has given me a new category for books I like: Plants that are Not Your Cute Fluffy Pretty Garden Variety. The surface story is the same with both books: girls who love the spookier, odd, weird, dangers, spiky, thorny plants. They like them so much that they are isolated from their communities and peers. In both cases, the parent(s) encourage this individuality, even if […]

Jackson and Irwin the Thylacine: Adventures! Mystery! Gross Foods!

Jackson's Wilder Adventures Volume 1 by Sarah Davidson

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Jackson’s Wilder Adventures Volume 1 by Sarah Davidson is probably my favorite book read this week. Or even this year. Now, granted it is not because it was some elaborate affair of great worldly writing, but because it was a simple book that was a great introduction for the science reader. This fantastic science book works for the younger reader aged 6 to young 9. You are exposed to a situation (“gross food” or “scared of moving”) and then how animals can have a similar […]

Dwindle, Peak and Pine

Birnam Wood by Eleanor Catton

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Birnam Wood are a collective of idealists. They roam around the New Zealand city in which they are based and grow vegetables on unused plots of lands, occasionally with permission of their owners. People volunteer bits of time and effort, driving around the city looking for mulch or abandoned pieces of plastic tarp to cover the plants, weeding the lots and collecting rainwater. Everything is recycled. Important events are democratically decided during a meeting known as a hui, in deference to the Maori, but ostensibly […]

Little box of crayons, a lot of hope

Simone by Viet Thanh Mguyen

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I was expecting Simone to be an immigration story or one about fitting in when you look different. I was surprised to learn that the book was about strength in the middle of a traumatic event. This makes Viet Thanh Nguyen’s book relatable on several levels. Anyone can have a tragic event occur. Now, ours might not be a forest fire, but we could have had a flood, a loss of a home, or a death in the family. Simone (the character) is a young […]

Climate change and one result

Wildfire by Breena Bard

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The graphic novel Wildfire by Breena Bard has a heavy push of environmentalism and that which causes them, and how to try and fix them. Which is, of course a fantastic subject, but at times it felt a smidgen pushy. However, overall it is well done and introduces the subject well. I had a few spots where I had wished something else had happened or was handled differently, but I enjoyed things. A modern tone with bubbly, colorful, minimal detailed illustrations to help counter the […]

Poetry + science + activism = one heck of a book

The City Sings Green & Other Poems About Welcoming Wildlife by Erica Silverman

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I do not think I was halfway through The City Sings Green & Other Poems About Welcoming Wildlife by Erica Silverman and illustrated by Ginnie Hsu before I knew this was probably going to be my top April read (and yes, it is only a week into the month) and probably in my top picks for the year (and yes, it’s only four months old). The story is actually poems, but don’t let that stop you from reading! No, these are not artsy-fartsy ones! These […]



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