Teenagers – Page 4 – Cannonball Read 17

A platter of insights topped with a sprinkle of advice and a drizzle of judgement

The Art of Growing Up by John Marsden

March 2, 2020 by kniki Leave a Comment

This book starts with a powerful chapter about young children and teens who are troubled and how we treat them differently as soon as they become young adults – losing our compassion and expecting them to act like the rest of us rational beings when really it isn’t possible after the dysfunctional upbringing they’ve endured. After reading this I thought the whole book was going be similar – a real challenge to my way of thinking. The rest was…… ok. Some of the writing I […]

Never say never

Nothing Can Possibly Go Wrong by Prudence Shen

February 5, 2020 by BlackRaven Leave a Comment

Nothing Can Possibly Go Wrong had been on the radar for a while. I was not completely convinced until a few weeks ago when I saw it sitting next to another book at the library that I wanted. I figured it was a sign to get it them. I went home and read it. Prudence Shen’s story is decent. It is a solid story about friendship and being a teen with issues. It has its stereotypical moments (the nasty cheerleaders, the basketball jock trying to […]

“…Let me assure you, Lula – nobody’s normal.”

February 24, 2018 by Blingle Bells Leave a Comment

I was so reluctant to start this book. The cover just screams “twee” and “manic pixie dream girl” but someone here, who knows who, had written a sufficiently glowing review that it made it to my TBR list and well – there are rules. Once it’s on the TBR, I have to at least try it. But believe me, I wouldn’t have otherwise. And man would I have missed out. Weird Girl and What’s His Name is such a sweet, tender, funny book. The pace […]

She had me at Dolly Parton.

February 12, 2018 by chatelaine9 1 Comment

Dumplin’, whose real name is Willowdean, is a smart, kind, capable, funny, and fat (her term) 16-year-old in small-town Texas. Being sixteen is sucky enough, am I right?!, but the “fat” part causes even more trouble than one would expect for Dumplin’ since her mom is the local pageant queen-turned-pageant director, still living on her own pageant days, staying thin to fit in a 30-year-old dress. She was herself once Miss Teen Blue Bonnet and you better believe that’s a big effin’ deal in Clover […]

A Meh Grows in Brooklyn

January 6, 2017 by Kitkat 2 Comments

When I was growing up, my mother always told me that, if I couldn’t think of something nice to say, I shouldn’t say anything at all. Good thing I thought of something nice to say about this book, or this review would’ve been a lot harder to write. August is a Tennessee girl who gets taken to Brooklyn after bad stuff goes down back home. After a lot of time spent staring out the window, she eventually makes friends with a trio of talented, intelligent, […]

I went to the library and checked out a book because I was getting scared.

December 16, 2016 by borisanne 2 Comments

I just reviewed Becky Albertalli’s “Simon vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda” and I’m not going to lie, I was reading “The Perks of Being a Wallflower” at the same time, and sometimes I had trouble telling the difference between them. And I mean that with every compliment, because, as I wrote in my “Simon” review, there’s a strong and important tradition of novels that normalize the alienation of adolescence, and the millions of forms that it can take. “The Perks of Being a Wallflower” is […]

Zirza on A Gothic Classic for a ReasonIt's one of those wish-you-could-read-it-again-for-the-first-time books. I loved it.
Emmalita on “It came to something when you found yourself hoping that the footsteps you heard were ghosts.”I loved the ending! I don’t think it’s been out long enough to talk about why though.
Dixie on Track Her Down by Melinda LeighI am just starting Track Her Down and I have read them all in order till now and thought I...
Roland of Gilead on How can you give us the gift of a crazy character named Rando Thoughtful and then just as suddenly take that gift away? We need to talk, Uncle Stevie.I came across this randomly years after it was written because I was searching "Random Thoughtful. But I have the...
Emmalita on “Only you, Em, would refer to heartbreak as a distraction. I think I would have a more sympathetic response if I asked to marry a bookcase.”Oh my goodness, Gallifrey was beautiful. I’m sure her mittens were gloriously murdery.

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