Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Just a couple of moms and their talking cats

Urban Tails by Ilana Zeffren

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I first found Urban Tails by Ilana Zeffren as an online reader copy, though the book has been available since May 2022. I was having trouble reading it online due to the illustrations. The text bled into the images. The colors were dull and this made things feel unfinished overall. The story wasn’t engaging me. But there was something about it that made me want to read it. I knew there was something there. Perhaps it was because it was about Israel. Or because there […]

Love, Kindness, Danger

The Girl Who Sang: A Holocaust Memoir of Hope and Survival by Estelle Nadel, Bethany Strout and Sammy Savos

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“There are very few survivors left, and I want the world to know that there was a Holocaust” The Girl Who Sang: A Holocaust Memoir of Hope and Survival is a short graphic novel, but has a lot packed in. Estelle Nadel, Bethany Strout and Sammy Savos created an informative, quick story about how one girl survived during wartime, a girl who was lost and how she found her voice when all seemed to be the end of the world.  There are uncomplicated illustrations supporting […]

From India to Israel

The Blue Butterfly of Cochin by Ariana Mizrahi & Siona Benjamin (Illustrator)

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I like finding out things that might not be familiar to me, or to the majority of people if it is presented in a fun way, as I do not care for “just the facts” and “dry textbooks.”  I like things like The Blue Butterfly of Cochin by Ariana Mizrahi and illustrated by Siona Benjamin. (Currently available, I read this via an online reader copy). I like taking a fictional story and basing it in the facts to make it relatable to the reader.  This […]

The philosophy of tikkun olam

One Small Spark: A Tikkun Olam Story by Victoria Tentler-Krylov

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Recently published (in August 2024), One Small Spark: A Tikkun Olam Story by Ruth Spiro and illustrated by Victoria Tentler-Krylov, explores the concept of Tikkun Olam, which has several meanings, but basically is to “improve your surroundings.” The authors afterwards is important because it not only helps expand on this idea, but allows you to know that while it is told via a “Jewish lens” in the book (authors words), it is not limited to this religion. Many religions and cultures practice this idea. The […]

Family celebration

A Turkish Rosh Hashanah by Etan Basseri

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I was reading A Turkish Rosh Hashanah (via an online reader copy though it has recently been released) by Etan Basseri and thought about The Light Keeper by Levin, Baslaw and Priestley. It is not because they have a similar theme, setting (one is set in Russian, one in Turkey), or even that the main characters are all Jewish, but it just had that feel of something familiar and yet, also different. It was sweet, interesting and a bit educational without being textbook-like. They both […]

Soap Opera Level Drama & Ghosts!

Rules for Ghosting by Shelly Jay Shore

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I happened across this title, and had to read the synopsis, and a queer trans Jewish ghost story was something I didn’t know I needed in my life until that moment. I knew this was going to be full of drama (who announces their affair at Passover Seder?!) but it’s also so full of emotional nuance. Ezra grew up as the eldest daughter and he had a lot of those tendencies baked in where he is always trying to fix things for his family and […]



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