Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Two siblings and their adventure

Afar by Leila del Duca, Kit Seaton and Taneka Stotts

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I realized I had read Afar by Leila del Duca, Kit Seaton and Taneka Stotts a few pages in. However, when I went to put the book in my counting site, I lost my notes/rating/etc. From before for it. Therefore, I am not sure what my original thoughts were. I do remember enjoying it, but obviously not enough to remember I had read it before. Then, I only remembered a few parts making it more of a first time read and anything that was familiar […]

Surviving middle school is hard

Just Beyond #1 The Scare School by R.L. Stine, Nichole Matthews and Kelly Matthews

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R.L. Stine, Nichole Matthews and Kelly Matthews adapted Just Beyond #1 The Scare School into a graphic novel format. Or I am assuming it was a novel first, then a graphic novel. However, regardless of which came first (or didn’t come out) this is an old school RL Stine story. The theme is classic: We start with a couple of kids in “unusual clothing” (cue the “not from our world”) and how they are being chased by a robotic monster. We then see who lives […]

I’m not the audience, but that doesn’t mean you won’t be

Pi Squad Mysteries #1  Sabotage at Casa Grande Springs by DD Sterner

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There are few books that I read a page or two and feel like I cannot go on. I usually say, okay, it’s slow right now, but it’ll pick up, and it does.  However, Pi Squad Mysteries #1  Sabotage at Casa Grande Springs by DD Sterner (cover design by Alyssa Tora Aman) was not one of  those books. However (again), I kept reading. And my eight or nine year old brain said, “You would have enjoyed this as a kid.”  Just not your adult self. […]

Finding Happy

The Happy Shop by Brittany Long Olsen

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The Happy Shop by Brittany Long Olsen was a book I had on my TBR for awhile now. I didn’t know what to expect, except it was a graphic novel and would have some type of magic in it. And in the short run, that is what it is all about: A girl finds a magical shop, magical things happen, she makes magical friends. Yet, there is a bit more. It is about how and why the girl is in need of a magical shop. […]

Freshman Blues

How It All Ends by Emma Hunsinger

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How It All Ends by Emma Hunsinger is a coming of age story that we know: Girl has trouble fitting in during high school. She is not ready for the trials of being a teen. But, the thing is, she isn’t really a teen. She should be an 8th grader. She should be having homeroom, going to Six Flags, starting a first crush; not having to deal with boys who think interrupting their English teacher is funny. Doing group projects with a boy (thankfully she […]

“Dad? Mom? I think I can do it.” (Do what?) “Save the world?” or Don’t touch the cute space robot on the weird planet in the first place

Blake Laser by Keith Marantz

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Blake Laser is a fun story for the lover of science-fiction, love of a little fantasy, of course aliens and just the right amount of humor. Everything is a bit face paced, but is not crowded with text, too many images or action. This story by Keith Marantz has a biracial family of four, that are heading where no human has gone before! No, not space (it is the 24th century after all, been there done that!) but a particular place in space. The family […]



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