Performing Arts – Cannonball Read 17

Music puzzle

Piece by Piece: How Stephen Sondheim Made Musical Puzzles Come Alive by Erin Frankel

November 25, 2025 by BlackRaven Leave a Comment

Picture books. Love them or hate them they are a genre that has expanded my knowledge over the years. I have learned about volcanoes, bats, famous artistic nuns, poems and more. And Piece by Piece: How Stephen Sondheim Made Musical Puzzles Come Alive by Erin Frankel and illustrator Stacy Innerst added to it with a poetic look at Stephen Sondheim and his works. While not a “pure biography” of the composer, the highlights of his work and life are addressed. Things are whimsical and a […]

I think he liked to dance

Willi Ninja: Vogue Legend by Joy Michael Ellison

September 12, 2025 by BlackRaven Leave a Comment

When I need a quick read I head to my piles of reader copies. Sometimes I need to go to my online links and sometimes I have physical copies. This time it was an online reader copy for Willi Ninja: Vogue Legend by Joy Michael Ellison and illustrator Nabi H. Ali. Due mid-May 2026 you’ll be just in time to learn about Willi Ninja and become inspired to dance like him in the hot summer nights. Yes, Mr. Ninja (not his real name) was […]

To Tuck or Not to Tuck or how to Survive BeerGate

Paper Doll: Notes from a Late Bloomer by Dylan Mulvaney

July 14, 2025 by BlackRaven Leave a Comment

cbr17bingo TBR A while back, I texted a friend about a book I was going to read. It was out of my usual read because it was not a graphic novel, it was nonfiction and it was for physically and mentally adults. It was Paper Doll: Notes from a Late Bloomer by Dylan Mulvaney. My friend told me to let her know how it turned out. My first comment was, “Well, it didn’t stink.” And I said that with love. I expected something preachy and […]

The grandfather, the boy, the guitar and the song

The One About the Blackbird by Melanie Florence

June 13, 2025 by BlackRaven Leave a Comment

Bring the tissues when you read The One About the Blackbird by Melanie Florence and illustrator Matt James (read via an online reader copy, due later October 2025). This is a bittersweet story of the love of a grandson and grandfather and how the tables turn as time goes by, but music always pulls them together. The story is about how a young boy is always surrounded by music. One night he tells his grandfather he, too, wants to make music like his favorite song […]

Raise the curtain

Upstaged by Robin Easter

April 30, 2025 by BlackRaven Leave a Comment

I have read a lot of middle reader novels and a lot of graphic novel middle readers. I have read a lot of stories that deal with LGBTQ issues. And of course, most (if not all) have dealt with growing up, coming of age, finding yourself and situations like those. Therefore, it takes a lot for me to really love a book with the above criteria. And while I liked and enjoyed Upstaged by Robin Easter, I did not love it. However, I did like […]

Two reviews for you

Mary Had a Little Jam by Tammi Sauer and Vanessa Brantley-Newton

Pencil by Hye-Eun Kim

April 10, 2025 by BlackRaven Leave a Comment

My recent picture book reading day included a lot of books. So many in fact that I had to break them into two different reviews. Also read and now included in this review were Mary Had a Little Jam by Tammi Sauer and Vanessa Brantley-Newton and Pencil by Hye-Eun Kim. Well, Hye-Eun Kim’s book was more looked at than read as it is a wordless picture book. And still Pencil is something that I can write several words about. The fun part of this book […]

Zirza on A Gothic Classic for a ReasonIt's one of those wish-you-could-read-it-again-for-the-first-time books. I loved it.
Emmalita on “It came to something when you found yourself hoping that the footsteps you heard were ghosts.”I loved the ending! I don’t think it’s been out long enough to talk about why though.
Dixie on Track Her Down by Melinda LeighI am just starting Track Her Down and I have read them all in order till now and thought I...
Roland of Gilead on How can you give us the gift of a crazy character named Rando Thoughtful and then just as suddenly take that gift away? We need to talk, Uncle Stevie.I came across this randomly years after it was written because I was searching "Random Thoughtful. But I have the...
Emmalita on “Only you, Em, would refer to heartbreak as a distraction. I think I would have a more sympathetic response if I asked to marry a bookcase.”Oh my goodness, Gallifrey was beautiful. I’m sure her mittens were gloriously murdery.

Help Our Mission