Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time
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More Christmas and Yule please

The Legend of the Christmas Witch by Dan Murphy and Aubrey Plaza

November 4, 2025 by BlackRaven Leave a Comment

With the book, The Legend of the Christmas Witch, I wanted more about Christmas and less, well, witch. I understand that Dan Murphy and Aubrey Plaza wanted to build up to the climax, but it made no real sense to me why things were called Christmas. First, she practices Yule celebrations. Second, we only see her being impatient, spoiled and naive. We do find Christmas with a Santa character, who is the witch’s beloved twin brother who turns out to be a bit of a […]

Filed Under: Children's Books, Fantasy, Fiction, History, Mystery, Poetry, Religion, Young Adult Tagged With: Aubrey Plaza, celebrations, christmas, Dan Murphy, Dan Murphy and Aubrey Plaza, family, holidays, Julia Iredale, siblings, Yule celebrtaion

BlackRaven's CBR17 Review No:493 · Genres: Children's Books, Fantasy, Fiction, History, Mystery, Poetry, Religion, Young Adult · Tags: Aubrey Plaza, celebrations, christmas, Dan Murphy, Dan Murphy and Aubrey Plaza, family, holidays, Julia Iredale, siblings, Yule celebrtaion ·
Rating:
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PUUUUNK!

Be Your Own Backing Band by Liz Prince

October 29, 2025 by BlackRaven Leave a Comment

The author, Liz Prince, has become a reading staple of late. I have read most (if not all) that is  out there (minus a few things she just illustrated). But when I got Be Your Own Backing Band, I felt that Prince might have had one of her best collections yet. But then again, she could probably write a phone book and I would read it. After I finished, I said, “Keep on coming with the cool and goodness!” This is a look at how […]

Filed Under: Biography/Memoir, Fantasy, Fiction, Graphic Novels/Comic Books, Health, History, Non-Fiction, Young Adult Tagged With: coming-of-age, Liz Prince, music, paranormal, Punk rock musicians, siblings, Sisters

BlackRaven's CBR17 Review No:483 · Genres: Biography/Memoir, Fantasy, Fiction, Graphic Novels/Comic Books, Health, History, Non-Fiction, Young Adult · Tags: coming-of-age, Liz Prince, music, paranormal, Punk rock musicians, siblings, Sisters ·
Rating:
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Parents! Whatcha gunna do?

The Schlemiel Kids Save the Moon by Audrey Barbakoff

October 21, 2025 by BlackRaven Leave a Comment

A year back the book The Schlemiel Kids Save the Moon by Audrey Barbakoff and illustrated by  Rotem Teplow came out. I found it hidden in my online reader links, so I had the pleasure of reading it that way. When I finished reading I felt that it was a cozy, silly folktale, and the usual antics that can be labeled as way too over the top and frankly stupid, were not there. I was, okay the adults are not the brightest people, but nobody […]

Filed Under: Children's Books, Comedy/Humor, Fiction, Poetry Tagged With: adaptations, Audrey Barbakoff, community, Fairy Tales, family, folk tleas, jewish, Rotem Teplow, siblings

BlackRaven's CBR17 Review No:460 · Genres: Children's Books, Comedy/Humor, Fiction, Poetry · Tags: adaptations, Audrey Barbakoff, community, Fairy Tales, family, folk tleas, jewish, Rotem Teplow, siblings ·
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Dance Dance Dance….

Emma & Capucine, Volume 1 by Jérôme Hamon and Lena Sayaphoum

September 18, 2025 by BlackRaven Leave a Comment

While I enjoyed reading the two parts that are inclined in  Emma & Capucine, Volume 1 by Jérôme Hamon and Lena Sayaphoum, I was not able to be WOWed by it. There is nothing new to the events or thoughts happening. However, it is still a nice coming of age story Part One. We deal with growing apart from an older sibling, dealing with a dream not happening, finding new dreams, parents learning to support rather than push for themselves, and jealousy. There are at […]

Filed Under: Children's Books, Fantasy, Fiction, Graphic Novels/Comic Books, Health, Romance, Sports, Young Adult Tagged With: ballett, coming-of-age, Coming-of-age comics, Dance, family, France, friendship, hip-hop dance, Jérôme Hamon, Jérôme Hamon and Lena Sayaphoum, Lena Sayaphoum, manga, mothers, paris, Paris (France), Performing art, siblings, Sisters, Social Themes

BlackRaven's CBR17 Review No:409 · Genres: Children's Books, Fantasy, Fiction, Graphic Novels/Comic Books, Health, Romance, Sports, Young Adult · Tags: ballett, coming-of-age, Coming-of-age comics, Dance, family, France, friendship, hip-hop dance, Jérôme Hamon, Jérôme Hamon and Lena Sayaphoum, Lena Sayaphoum, manga, mothers, paris, Paris (France), Performing art, siblings, Sisters, Social Themes ·
Rating:
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Do you let your children read Stephen King?

Hansel and Gretel by Stephen King and Maurice Sendak

September 18, 2025 by BlackRaven Leave a Comment

You might have heard that Stephen King took Maurice Sendak’s illustrations and sent them out into the world as a picture book called  Hansel and Gretel. Here is the story of how I finally read it:  One Saturday I needed a change of scenery and took a few hours to browse my local library. I sat at a table (in a too tall chair), read half of an adult graphic novel (while charging my phone, and after breaking a fingernail trying to get said book), […]

Filed Under: Children's Books, Cooking/Food, Fantasy, Fiction, History, Mystery Tagged With: adaptations, folktales, hansel and gretel, Maurice Sendak, myths, siblings, Social Themes, Stephen King, Stephen King and Maurice Sendak, values, vitures

BlackRaven's CBR17 Review No:407 · Genres: Children's Books, Cooking/Food, Fantasy, Fiction, History, Mystery · Tags: adaptations, folktales, hansel and gretel, Maurice Sendak, myths, siblings, Social Themes, Stephen King, Stephen King and Maurice Sendak, values, vitures ·
Rating:
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I lean towards Little Ghost

Little Ghost House Hunts by Lucy Branam

All Hallows' Eve by Anthony DeStefano

August 26, 2025 by BlackRaven Leave a Comment

If you are new here, or to my reviews, let me tell you: I like Halloween. However, I do not like the spooky or horror or gross, but the fun, candy getting, costume wearing part. I also like reading Halloween books, especially for kids. The novel The Halloween Tree has some great moments for the 10 to adult reader, but there is nothing like a picture book. And recently, I found two picture books (read on line, currently available) that are very different from each […]

Filed Under: Children's Books, Comedy/Humor, Fantasy, Fiction, Mystery, Poetry, Religion Tagged With: Anthony DeStefano, Catholic, emotions, family, Ghost Stories, halloween, Lucy Branam, siblings, Social Themes, spiritual meanings

BlackRaven's CBR17 Review No:385 · Genres: Children's Books, Comedy/Humor, Fantasy, Fiction, Mystery, Poetry, Religion · Tags: Anthony DeStefano, Catholic, emotions, family, Ghost Stories, halloween, Lucy Branam, siblings, Social Themes, spiritual meanings ·
Rating:
· 0 Comments
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Recent Comments

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