Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Censorship sucks!

Hey, Kiddo by Jarrett J. Krosoczka

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I saw a TikTok where the author of a book had stitched a meeting of a local school board. They were proposing to ban the book because of foul language and depictions of drug abuse. This is a YA autobiographical graphic novel of the author’s life through the end of high school. The author is also the illustrator. It starts with depictions of him as a child having nightmares; seeing his mother with several men; and, spending his night on the floor outside her room. […]

Fantastic witchy YA!

How to Succeed in Witchcraft by Aislinn Brophy

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I got an arc of Aislinn Brophy’s upcoming <u>Spells to Forget Us</u> so being me, I decided to read her debut first, and this was phenomenal. Shay is in her junior year and burning the candle at both ends in the hopes of wining the Brockton scholarship, a scholarship for her school that would pay for college tuition and basically ensures she’d be able to go to a licensing college. There is so much good commentary on access and privilege and the American dream through […]

Look, I read a non-smutty book!

This Poison Heart by Kalynn Bayron

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Briseis is a black teenage girl who can control and grow plants, often unintentionally. She is also invulnerable to poisons. She can roll around in Poison Ivy and not break out in a rash or even itch. She can drink straight poison or inject it into her veins and not be harmed. She is adopted, and her moms run a struggling flower shop in New York City. One day, Briseis receives a letter that her only surviving natural relative, an aunt, has died and left […]

“If You’re Not Happy, Maybe Ask Yourself If It’s Worth It”

Sacred Heart by Liz Suburbia

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Spoilers below: I’ve reread this book a few times over the seven years since it came out (I actually think I read her other work before this was published, so I was familiar with her style beforehand). It’s the kind of book where you enjoy it and it raises more questions than it answers. The ending reveals a little of what’s been going on, but way more is left up to your imagination. In the hands of another author, this might grate or feel cheap, […]

“But it’s too late:” YA Nihilism and Queer Tragedy

As You Wish by Chelsea Sedoti

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This book was surface level readable, but morally it’s made me more and more mad the longer I think about it. It’s the kind of YA book where you read it in an intense sitting but are also irritated that the author isn’t trying to do more with the material. There is a lot jammed in here — a town where everyone gets a wish on their eighteenth birthday, football angst, romantic angst, dealing with your little sister being hit by a car and blaming […]

This girl needs some serious therapy…

Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell

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We picked this book to be our February Teen Book Club pick, stealing our Cannonball book club format for a Facebook discussion.  We picked it without anyone having read it ahead of time, which may not have been a completely great decision, but oh well! The first thing that struck me was “Wow, there’s a lot of foul language in this!”  I mean, it’s nothing that kids today haven’t heard constantly, but it’s still a little surprising coming right out of the gate.  And it’s […]



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