Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

This book is going to be so good for so many kids. I wish it had been around when I was growing up.

Rick by Alex Gino

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This is a sweet book, but it’s not as good as its companion novel, the award-winning George. George does what all great books do, and transcends its genre. It was written for young middle grade readers, but because it was so well-written and so personal, and developed the character of Melissa so beautifully, it just felt like a good story, all the while it was also teaching kids about what it means to be trans, and emphasizing themes like empathy, friendship, and kindness. Rick has […]

Close but no cigar.

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This book made me sad because I wanted to love it and I couldn’t so more than like it.  The characters were solid and the dialogue wasn’t bad but everything else was lacking.  I mean, I enjoyed the plot, but I can’t really give Lev AC Rosen credit for that, since All Men of Genius is a retelling of Twelfth Night.  A Victorian era, steampunk retelling of Twelfth Night with a dash of The Importance of Being Earnest* thrown in, to be exact. Violet and […]

I’m so tired of being alone/These penitent walls are all I’ve known

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Upon his death, Astrid Lethewood’s father, Albert, left her a house she never knew he owned.  She, like everybody else, thought he was the town wastrel, spending his wife’s money on booze and things from junk shops.  Still, Astrid loved her father and wants to build a home, a family, in this house he left her.  First her step-brother Jacks moves in, running away from the expectations of his father, the town fire chief.  Then Astrid’s oldest friend Sahara calls, saying that her boyfriend cheated […]



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