Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Let’s go to sleep

The Dreamway by Lisa Papademetriou

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I do not remember how I found out about The Dreamway by Lisa Papademetriou but find it I did, and an interlibrary loan is how it came to be in my possession. I would have loved this as a 10-to 13-year-old. The story is cute, but not overly cutesy. There is enough fantasy to grab the fantasy reader, but enough reality to grab them, too. The sibling story is interesting. The narrator’s disability does not come into play a lot (and in fact could be […]

A nod to Dollhouse the show

Dolltopia by Abby Denson

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I think Abby Denson’s ponytail is too tight! They created one outrageous, crazy, mixed-up commentary on life, love, and the pursuit of happiness when they made Dolltopia. Denson tells the story of (even from the first conscious moment in the Doll Factory), a doll (Kitty Ballerina) realizing that she wants more. She did not even wait for the mind-numbing play with the humans before she realized doll life sucked. She finally gets up the nerve to break away from the dream house and Soccer Scotty […]

Science & Nature & Grief & Love

With a Butterfly’s Wings by Pilar Lopez Avila

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This is a sweet, but also somber, story of a grandmother and granddaughter and how they interact while observing the world around them.  It is a picture book of how a grandmother teaches a grandchild how to view the world, explore the world, and to appreciate nature and the animals and plants that reside in it. This is a poem and love letter. On the pages of With a Butterfly’s Wings we see how secrets, appreciation and love are passed along and how even when […]

My high school years were never this interesting

Thieves by Lucie Bryon

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Ella and Madeleine are two girls who do not really realize the other likes them. All Ella does is start sweat oceans when she admires her from a far. But due to a stupid drunken event, Ella wakes up one morning and learns that she has stolen some things from the party from the night before. Because of Ella’s BFF, she is tossed together with Madeline the day after, but is caught red handed with the stash. But before that Madeline has made the confession […]

Relatable awesomeness

Frizzy by Claribel A. Ortega

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I will start with a controversial statement. I am not always a fan of the drawn natural hair look. For me, it does not “translate” well to the page. I feel something is lost from the “real look” verses the “page look.” However, in Frizzy Rose Bousamra really pulled it off. Marlene (our heroine) and her natural look is amazingly done. And Claribel A. Ortega’s story is equally wonderful. Now, I am not a Dominican middle school girl who has the same self-esteem issues s […]

Sister Magic

Beatrice Likes the Dark by Genevieve Tucholke

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Beatrice Likes the Dark while her sister Roo loves the light. Neither can understand the other’s love of spiders, cellars, stars (Beatrice), or the sun, flowers, and the days joys (Roo). But when Roo admits to being afraid of the dark, Beatrice does what any good big sister would do, and gives her a special piece of magic. Learning to appreciate and love each other (even if they cannot get behind the other’s personal tastes), the sisters create a happy medium. April Genevieve Tucholke’s text […]



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