Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Word of the Day: Kindness

Can Sophie Change the World? by Nancy Elizabeth Wallace

A Small Kindness by Stacy McAnulty

Hundred Feet Tall by Benjamin Scheuer

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Kindness is the word of the day. Or, at least, the word of the review. Sophie wants to give a gift for her grandfather. He says he does not want anything, but when she insists, he asks her to perform a good work and change the world (a mitzvah). She does not know how she can change the world. She is just a kid and not able to do big things. But when she tells her grandfather of the acts she did while trying to […]

What is your relationship with your grandfather?

Gigi and Ojiji by Melissa Iwai

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I find it amusing when I want to review an early/easy reader. After all, it is funny that a book that probably has less than 250 words needs a review of 250 words. Gigi and Ojiji by Melissa Iwai has a lot going on in it. There is the daughter/mother relationship. There is the granddaughter/grandfather relationship. And there is the culture relationship. You learn Gigi is biracial (Japanese mother, white father) by just seeing it. There is no HEY LOOK! I AM DIFFERENT yelling off […]

Pickle Jars are not Just for Pickles anymore

The Planet in a Pickle Jar by Martin Staney

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The Planet in a Pickle Jar almost has a “part one” and “part two” to it. You start off with the grandchildren of a grandmother saying their grandmother is dull, never laughs or talks until they show up. When they finally visit, they think her house is dull, the grandmother tells long tedious stories and things are boring. Of course, you see the artwork presenting everything as mysterious and boldly colored and overflowing with details. The second part is one day the grandmother is missing, […]

Bitter, Sweet, Love, Family

Hundred Years of Happiness by Thanhha Lai

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I had many emotions and thoughts while reading Hundred Years of Happiness. I was wondering the nationality of the family (you learn Vietnamese) as I was curious where the food came from and where the traditional represented (colors are important to cultures and I was wondering why white was not used).  Then, I would become emotional as I realized this is not really a happy story, but a bittersweet one about the love of a grandchild and grandparents. And where one grandparent, the grandmother, is […]

Bitter sweet goodbyes

The Sour Cherry Tree by Naseem Hrab

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When I first saw The Sour Cherry Tree by Naseem Hrab, I thought it was going to be an Asian folktale. Instead, this lovely story of a granddaughter saying goodbye to a beloved grandfather is a realistic story with Arabic characters. But the great part is, it is relatable no matter your background. Anyone with a grandparent that maybe you did not have a terrible close relationship with but had a very special one will understand how the young girl feels the day she learns […]

Don’t even need to have pants to read this

Amah Faraway by Margaret Chiu Greanias

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Are you close to your grandparents? Physically or spiritually? I was physically close to both sets of grandparents (one lived in the upper part of the house, the other about 20-30 minutes’ drive).  Therefore, when kids would say, “I’m going to New Jersey for Christmas.” I was, “Huh? You mean you don’t put on a pair of pants and slippers and go upstairs?” After all, it was a big deal if we went to the other grandparent’s house (the drive) I mean we had to […]



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