Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

To tell their stories

Home Is a Door We Carry by Constantin Satüpo

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Home Is a Door We Carry is a hard book to read, and not just because of the subject. There was a flowing issue for me. Things are simple and at times almost too simple for my personal tastes. Maybe different art could have enhanced my personal journey, but also I know that this is what author Constantin Satuppo needs to tell his story. Satupo is trying to give you the emotions of refugees (the voices of the children seen in the images) having to […]

Two pieces of history around the world

A Place Called Galveston by Andrea Shapiro

Claudia Said Sí!: The Story of Mexico's First Woman President by Deborah Bodin Cohen, Kerry Olitzky and Carlos Vélez Aguilera

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Recently I mentioned to a friend of mine that there are a lot of political titles happening, even in the children’s genres. And most are slanted seriously and obviously in one direction or the other. Therefore, when I find something that is not political, but could fit current events I try to pay attention.  Two of those books are A Place Called Galveston by Andrea Shapiro and illustrator Valerya Milovanova, as well as Claudia Said Sí!: The Story of Mexico’s First Woman President by Deborah […]

Coming of age during the Cuban Revolution

How to Say Goodbye in Cuban by Daniel Miyares

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Cbr17bingo Border (leaving Cuba’s borders is dangerous, entering the US boarding is difficult) While a tense story, How to Say Goodbye in Cuban by Daniel Miyares, is also a delightful one of overcoming the adversity of the times. Though immigration stories are not new, the author makes this based on real events (his own fathers journey from Cuba to the States) fresh. This is a relatively unknown story as I have not seen a lot of stories that were set so much in Cuba with little […]

“We all carry our special homes with us – in our backpacks and pockets, and in our hearts.”

My Home Is in My Backpack by Eugenia Perella

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cbr17bingo, MigrantMigrant: There are many ways to find a book when you work in a bookstore. One is finished copies sent out before the book is published. This way the bookseller can get the full feeling of the book. And I am very glad I was able to do this with My Home Is in My Backpack by Eugenia Perella (due in October 2025). An online copy would not  do this book justice. Clara and her family are forced to leave an unnamed home/homeland. They […]

There’s a lot to unpack and my suitcase isn’t big enough

My Father, the Panda Killer by Jamie Jo Hoang

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After finishing My Father, the Panda Killer by Jamie Jo Hoang, I texted a friend to tell her I had finally finished the difficult book I was reading. It was difficult as the pacing felt slow to me and the subject is far from easy. The main character is the first generation to be born in the states after her parents fled war-torn Vietnam during/after the war. We, like the narrator Jane, learn about things in snippets with her having to fill in the blanks. […]

Just because it is spring, doesn’t mean you can’t read a book about winter things

Brown Girl in the Snow by Yolanda T. Marshall and Marianne Ferrer

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September 2025 is the start of the Autumn/Winter release books. And this year (2025) so far has it looking like there will be some terribly hot titles. I am not just talking about whether they have “hot themes” (immigration, new school, historical events) or are from or set in a warm climate, I am talking  about whether they are going to be talked about and if they are going to get noticed and which ones are going to get awards and recognition. And Brown Girl […]



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