Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time
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The women poets of the Harlem Renaissance

Legacy: Women Poets of the Harlem Renaissance by Nikki Grimes

October 21, 2025 by BlackRaven Leave a Comment

When a book has a good backstory, be it how it was made, inspired or the author themselves I usually enjoy that as much as the book. And when my personal journey is the backstory, well of course I love that! The backstory to how I found Legacy: Women Poets of the Harlem Renaissance by Nikki Grimes (to me) was funny. The library trip with my nephew had me in the wrong section (non fiction) when we first wandered into the children’s room. Well, I […]

Filed Under: Children's Books, Fiction, History, Non-Fiction, Poetry, Religion, Romance, Short Stories, Young Adult Tagged With: 1900-1950, African-American, golden shovel poems, harlem renaissance, Nikki Grimes, women poets

BlackRaven's CBR17 Review No:461 · Genres: Children's Books, Fiction, History, Non-Fiction, Poetry, Religion, Romance, Short Stories, Young Adult · Tags: 1900-1950, African-American, golden shovel poems, harlem renaissance, Nikki Grimes, women poets ·
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I wanted a title that represented the fact that, yes, there are religious themes, but not that would turn people off as they can just be “Nope!” to that theme, but they are really nice books, even if they aren’t your thing.

Lullaby for the King by Nikki Grimes

Home Is Right Where You Are: Inspired by Psalm 23 by Ruth Chou Simons

August 2, 2024 by BlackRaven Leave a Comment

One does not just say you should read Lullaby for the King by Nikki Grimes and illustrated by Michelle Carlos to just anyone. You do, however, say, “This was a lovely story that if you have a need for a Christian book that is about the Christ child’s birth, and you do not want a fluffy book, a Santa/Christmas book or has only people in it, you should give this a chance.”  This story starts off and finishes on a poetic note. Things flow and […]

Filed Under: Children's Books, Fiction, Poetry, Religion Tagged With: animals, Christmas & Advent, Emotions & Feelings, family, Holidays & Celebrations, Lullabies, Michelle Carlos, Nativity, Nikki Grimes, Ruth Chou Simons, Social Themes, Stories in Verse

BlackRaven's CBR16 Review No:367 · Genres: Children's Books, Fiction, Poetry, Religion · Tags: animals, Christmas & Advent, Emotions & Feelings, family, Holidays & Celebrations, Lullabies, Michelle Carlos, Nativity, Nikki Grimes, Ruth Chou Simons, Social Themes, Stories in Verse ·
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The stories of two young men

Hands by Torrey Maldonado

Garvey in the Dark by Nikki Grimes

March 21, 2024 by BlackRaven Leave a Comment

I needed a short read or two. I found two, while terribly short looking, books that also felt like they would have some “meat” to them. And those books were Hands by Torrey Maldonado and Garvey in the Dark by Nikki Grimes. I was familiar with Grimes, as they are the author of Garvey’s Choice and others I enjoyed reading. But Maldonado was new. Hands looked like it would be a boxing book. And it is, somewhat. But really what the book is about are […]

Filed Under: Children's Books, Fiction, Health, Poetry, Young Adult Tagged With: African American & Black, black, boxing, Covid-19, family, mothers, music, Nikki Grimes, Novels in Verse, pandemic, responsibility, siblings, Sisters, Social Themes, Stepfathers, Torrey Maldonado

BlackRaven's CBR16 Review No:109 · Genres: Children's Books, Fiction, Health, Poetry, Young Adult · Tags: African American & Black, black, boxing, Covid-19, family, mothers, music, Nikki Grimes, Novels in Verse, pandemic, responsibility, siblings, Sisters, Social Themes, Stepfathers, Torrey Maldonado ·
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Getting the beat

Garvey's Choice: The Graphic Novel by Nikki Grimes

March 6, 2024 by BlackRaven Leave a Comment

Recently, Garvey’s Choice: The Graphic Novel by Nikki Grimes and illustrated by Theodore Taylor III found itself on my reading pile again. However, I was a few pages in before I realized I had read it before. It was funny how a book that I had enjoyed had been forgotten, but even though I had plenty of other things to read, it felt like a good idea to read again instead of moving onto something else. This reading allowed the story to become a bit […]

Filed Under: Children's Books, Cooking/Food, Fiction, Graphic Novels/Comic Books, Health, Poetry Tagged With: bullying, family, father and sons, friendship, music, Nikki Grimes, siblings, Stories in Verse, Theodore Taylor III

BlackRaven's CBR16 Review No:83 · Genres: Children's Books, Cooking/Food, Fiction, Graphic Novels/Comic Books, Health, Poetry · Tags: bullying, family, father and sons, friendship, music, Nikki Grimes, siblings, Stories in Verse, Theodore Taylor III ·
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World of Garvey

Garvey’s Choice: The Graphic novel by Nikki Grimes

November 7, 2023 by BlackRaven Leave a Comment

While I am not necessarily a huge fan of Nikki Grimes’ work, I do enjoy most of what I read. And I have thought about reading their novel Garvey’s Choice for a while, yet,  I never got around to it. Then not as long as it has been out, but a while ago, I saved a link to an online reader copy of the graphic novel version, but in typical me style, forgot about it and did not find it again until recently. Which was […]

Filed Under: Children's Books, Comedy/Humor, Fiction, Health, Poetry Tagged With: art, bullying, family, Fathers and sons, friendship, hobbies, music, Nikki Grimes, self-esteem, singing, Theodore Taylor III

BlackRaven's CBR15 Review No:797 · Genres: Children's Books, Comedy/Humor, Fiction, Health, Poetry · Tags: art, bullying, family, Fathers and sons, friendship, hobbies, music, Nikki Grimes, self-esteem, singing, Theodore Taylor III ·
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Politics: It ain’t for old white dudes anymore

Kamala Harris: Rooted in Justice by Nikki Grimes

January 24, 2022 by BlackRaven Leave a Comment

Kamala Harris: Rooted in Justice by Nikki Grimes, came out in summer of 2020. The book highlights the life of Harris from a child to the end of her run for president. I am not sure how updated the final results were, as I was reading a reader copy, but in the end, that is a little less important than how she became the first woman of color to hold her position. The fact that we follow a young girl named after a flower from […]

Filed Under: Biography/Memoir, Children's Books, History, Non-Fiction Tagged With: American History, Current Events, Kamala Harris, Laura Freeman, Nikki Grimes, politics, Social Themes

BlackRaven's CBR14 Review No:30 · Genres: Biography/Memoir, Children's Books, History, Non-Fiction · Tags: American History, Current Events, Kamala Harris, Laura Freeman, Nikki Grimes, politics, Social Themes ·
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