Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

She might have been 8 but she got people to listen

Until Someone Listens: A Story about Borders, Family, and One Girl's Mission by Estela Juarez

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Estela Juarez, Lissette Norman, and illustrator Teresa Martinez put together a picture book called Until Someone Listens: A Story about Borders, Family, and One Girl’s Mission. This is the true story of Estela Juarez, her family and especially the story of her mother. You see, young Juarez’s mother was not born in this country. And though she had two daughters and was married to a US marine, and even though her family fought for years to keep her in the country she was departed to […]

Things could probably be okay if it wasn’t for that meddling, dead, Abuela

Sia Martinez and the Moonlit Beginning of Everything by Raquel Vasquez Gilliland

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As a teen I might have been a bit more into Sia Martinez and the Moonlit Beginning of Everything by Raquel Vasquez Gilliland. The twist to the plot point was a bit of a slap, even though the description tells you what it will be. By going with a real “not dead” aspect, considering the spiritual aspects of the rest of the book was awkward. The pacing of the story is a slowly building up that at first was a great way to keep me […]

“When it seems like brown lives don’t matter “

Barely Missing Everything by Matt Mendez

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Barely Missing Everything has a few bumps and bruises in the writing style and subject matter. Matt Mendez has a “this a not an easy read” story for several reasons. First, the points of view can be a little off putting, though they are usually from Juan’s and the subject is how the town Juan, his family, and friends lives in treats people with Mexican backgrounds. Clichés and stereotypes come up often with what happens to the characters (Juan mother is a teenage mom, Juan’s […]

Be You. Everyone else is taken.

Just Ask!: Be Different, Be Brave, Be You by Sonia Sotomayor

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I kept seeing Just Ask!: Be Different, Be Brave, Be You on several lists. And I was sure I had read it. Or was I just assuming I had? I was not completely sure, to be honest. And come to find out, I was assuming. I had picked up a copy of the book and put it away in my TBR list but had never actually read Sonia Sotomayor’s book. Therefore, the other day at lunch saw me eating a peanut butter sandwich (unfortunately I […]

Selena: Queen of Tejano Music

Selena: by Silvia Lopez

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Selena is a downright gorgeously illustrated book by Paola Escobar. Silvia Lopez’s text hits on the highlights of the singer’s life. Each page is a short chapter into a piece of her life. The two pieces blend together; complimenting each other and bring to life the world, the looks and the sound of Selena.  There is not only the world inside the home and on the stage, but the neighborhood and people as well. The afterwards dealing with everything from definitions and explanations of terms, […]

When you’re lucky and you find one bad a$$ writer!

Dreams from Many Rivers: A Hispanic History of the United States Told in Poems by Margarita Engle

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Dreams from Many Rivers: A Hispanic History of the United States Told in Poems created by Margarita Engle are romantic in places and always serious with her pride in her heritage. And while history tends to “lump” Spanish, Mexican, Cuban, Native and other “Hispanic peoples” into one group, Engle shows how each one is separate, how each interacted with the others how Moctezuma’s great-granddaughter could also be Cortez’s great-granddaughter. The mix of historical and fiction characters is a nice touch. Each poem shows how history […]



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