Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

She climbed and protected so we all could enjoy

Up, Up, Ever Up! Junko Tabei: A Life in the Mountains by Anita Yasuda and Yuko Shimizu

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I am not a sports person. I am not an outdoors person. I am not a hiking person. And I am certainly not a mountain climbing person. I am a person who will read a book outside (but it’s a porch and there better be running water/bathroom and cool drinks nearby). And I am a person who will read a book about someone who is an outdoors, sporty, mountain climbing person. And  Up, Up, Ever Up! Junko Tabei: A Life in the Mountains by Anita […]

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 […]

Be Like Sam

Black Beach: A Community, an Oil Spill, and the Origin of Earth Day by Shaunna and John Stith

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I was in college (early to mid-1990’s) when I first heard of Earth Day. Yet, it was started in the 1970’s. How did I miss this event all those years? I mean around 20 or more years this event had been celebrated. In the end, maybe it is not important when I learned about it, but that I did and I partake in the events. But if you are interested in a little background in why it started, this picture book (by Shaunna and John […]

One person with a yard can do quite a lot for conservation

Nature's Best Hope by Douglas W. Tallamy

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CBR14 BINGO: New, because this is by an author I hadn’t read before BINGO: Minds, Adapt, Heart, Monster, New The extinction of species and the rapidly declining state of nature are problems that haunt me. I fear that I will live to see the day when the planet is no longer habitable, and I know I’m not alone. Yet most of us approach the problem with a feeling of learned helplessness: The problem is much too big and political for us to be able to […]

“Everywhere I looked, there was danger:” A Nuanced and Interesting Middle-Grade Novel

Turtle Boy by M. Evan Wolkenstein

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Turtle Boy was a random bookstore find for me, and I’m really glad I picked it up off the shelf. An interesting cover illustration will always get me, and the combination of bright yellow and a picture of the visual representation of my inner child intrigued me. Turtle Boy follows Will Levine, who is struggling with bullying, the death of his father, and having to do community service as part of the preparation for his bar mitzvah. In the opening chapters of the book, Will is […]

meddling with merfolk

Mermaids in Paradise by Lydia Millet

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“One thing. I’ve got experience with explosives. Another thing. I’ve got explosives.” I do not know why this book has such a low rating on GR – 2.8 as of the time of this posting – as it’s a fluffy little environmental thriller, but I suppose you can’t make everyone happy! Not that there is too much in Mermaids in Paradise to be happy with, what with the incredibly privileged narrator and her cavalcade of side characters who oscillate wildly between do-gooders and backstabbers. Mermaids in Paradise – […]



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