Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Grandmothers are special

Something about Grandma by Tania de Regil

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Julia goes to stay with her grandmother for the first time without her parents. And there is Something about Grandma and something about her house, the area she lives, the town and more. The things Julia does with her grandmother are different. They have sugar bread that is brought to them in a basket, that the lady delivery it places on her head.  There are different smells, colors and hot chocolate can cure homesickness. Her grandmother knows when Julia has picked limes from the garden, […]

Science & Nature & Grief & Love

With a Butterfly’s Wings by Pilar Lopez Avila

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This is a sweet, but also somber, story of a grandmother and granddaughter and how they interact while observing the world around them.  It is a picture book of how a grandmother teaches a grandchild how to view the world, explore the world, and to appreciate nature and the animals and plants that reside in it. This is a poem and love letter. On the pages of With a Butterfly’s Wings we see how secrets, appreciation and love are passed along and how even when […]

Relatable awesomeness

Frizzy by Claribel A. Ortega

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I will start with a controversial statement. I am not always a fan of the drawn natural hair look. For me, it does not “translate” well to the page. I feel something is lost from the “real look” verses the “page look.” However, in Frizzy Rose Bousamra really pulled it off. Marlene (our heroine) and her natural look is amazingly done. And Claribel A. Ortega’s story is equally wonderful. Now, I am not a Dominican middle school girl who has the same self-esteem issues s […]

Small Things

Thank You, Miyuki by Marie Roxanne Galliez

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Thank You, Miyuki by Marie Roxanne Galliez has some amazing illustrations by Seng Soun Ratanavanh. Bursting with colors that bring to life the Japanese world of Miyuki’s grandfather, the world of patience and being in the moment is introduced. This third book by the duo shows Miyuki a rambunctious, rowdy child who is terribly active. Curious and full of imagination, she tries to do tai chi with her grandfather, but falls over. And every time he tries to meditate there is Miyuki asking away. During […]

When a house is a home

The Lantern House  by Erin Napier

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You ever read a book and think, “Well that was interesting. Did I like it? Yes. Did I love it? Well, no.” And that is how I felt about The Lantern House by Erin Napier (with illustrations by Adam Trest). Maybe I was a little biased by the fact the book is by a celebrity. Or was not completely in the right mood or space to be reading. Yet, I know one thing about this book. I might not have loved it, but I know there […]

When she says old she means old (and sassy!)

Old Friends by Margaret Aitken

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When you think of old friends you might think of the friend you have had since kindergarten (all of two years ago), or you might think of the one you have had since high school (over thirty years ago). Or you might think of your friend who lives in a senior home. And that thought is a little closer to the theme of the story about a young girl and her special friends in Old Friends by Margaret Aitken. Marjorie is an old soul who […]



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