Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

“You can’t change how other people think and act, but you’re in full control of you.”

Dear Martin by Nic Stone

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4.5 stars ustyce McAllister is a seventeen-year-old with a bright future, thanks to his grades and being lucky enough to have a mother who has worked herself to the bone to send him to the prestigious prep school in Atlanta. Then one evening, when trying to help his extremely drunken ex-girlfriend get home safely (she’s half-black, but looks more like her Norwegian mother than her black dad), he’s detained by a very aggressive cop who’s convinced he was trying to carjack and abduct the girl. […]

Officer Involved

You Can Die Trying by Gar Anthony Haywood

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I’ve been going through some of Michael Connelly’s Harry Bosch series this past year. One thing I’ve written about it is my concern of how Connelly walks to the edge of police criticism but then draws back because he needs his Harry Bosch character to be “good,” even when Harry is bending and breaking laws to solve cases that apparently only he can solve. I like Connelly a lot, I really do. But reading Gar Anthony Haywood’s take on systemic racism and police brutality in You […]

The Hate U Give

The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

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As always, I’m three years late to the party with this one. Mostly, I loved it. I’m on book #7 for the year, but this is the first I’m reviewing after dropping out early last year when becoming a foster parent ate my life, and I’m still getting in the swing of how to structure reviews so for this one I’m going to just do liked and disliked lists. Liked: I’m a sucker for a book with a large cast of characters who all feel […]

#CBR10Bingo: Fahrenheit 451 – The Hate U Give

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#CBR10Bingo: Fahrenheit 451 (one of the ten most banned or challenged books in 2017) Starr feels like she’s living two lives, and in a way she is. She goes to a prestigious private school along with her siblings, where they are among the only black students. She has a white boyfriend, who calls her “Fresh Princess”, thinking she’s a bit like Will Smith in The Fresh Prince of Bel Air. She lives in a poor and rough neighbourhood, where drug dealing and gun violence isn’t unusual. Her […]

Hard to Read, But Do It Anyway

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A lot of Cannonballers have already read and reviewed The Hate U Give in the past few years. I don’t want to repeat everything that’s already been said, but if you haven’t read this book yet, do yourself a favor and add it to your list. The Hate U Give is the story of Starr, a teenager who witnesses her friend being murdered by a cop. Starr, who is African-American, lives in a tough neighborhood, but her parents send her to a nearby private school. […]

Fantastic Take on a Tough Subject

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Best for: Anyone looking for a riveting read. In a nutshell: 16-year-old Starr Carter is in the car when her friend is killed by a police officer. Line that sticks with me: “Claim folks need to act peaceful, but rolling through here like we in a goddamn war.” (pg 211) Why I chose it: I’ve been hearing loads of people talk about it. Review: Holy shit. 444 pages. Started yesterday morning on the walk to work, finished it this morning on the walk to work. […]



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