Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

“Now we have the opportunity to start over and try to do better this time around.”

The Apocalypse of Elena Mendoza by Hutchinson, Shaun David

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Elena Mendoza is called “Mary” at school, because she was the product of a virgin birth and her classmates are cruel idiots. Other than that factoid, her life is fairly routine: a shitty first boyfriend, an unrequited crush on her beautiful classmate Freddie, a deadbeat stepdad and overworked mom, and now a typical teen job at the local Starbucks. Oh wait, except that Elena has also been hearing voices most of her life – voices from random otherwise inanimate logos, toys, and statues. And today, […]

Somehow, against all odds, this works!

Harley Quinn: Breaking Glass by Tamaki, Mariko

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Harley’s story is revamped to set her origin during her teen years, and by making this change, we get to enjoy her character without having to negotiate how she got to where she is. In Tamaki’s version, Harleen Quinn has always been something of an oddball and a screw-up with the best of intentions. Raised by a single mom, she takes on being the protector of her family sometimes, even if it lands her in juvie here and there. When she’s 16, her mom lands […]

🎶 I guess you’re just what I needed!

The Scar Boys by Vlahos, Len

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As a kid, Harry was tied to a tree by bullies and abandoned there when a storm came in. When the storm was over, the tree was halved and incinerated by a lightening bolt and Harry was left alive but irrevocably scarred both outside and in. Most of his life, it was hard to maintain friendships, but when enigmatic and handsome Johnny takes a shine to him and suggests they start a band, things begin to turn around. The Scar Boys start out small, but […]

“Why am I only seen as someone who needs and not someone who can give?”

Piecing Me Together by Renee Watson

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Piecing Me Together is a 2017 YA novel, a Newbery Honor book and winner of the Coretta Scott King Award. Jade, a teenager from Portland, Oregon, tells her story of being poor, black and on scholarship to prestigious St. Francis school on other side of town. Jade is an excellent student and an artist who has much to offer and who is eager to break out of her neighborhood.  As she navigates two worlds — the neighborhood called the New Columbia and the world of […]

“That’s what comes of hungering for something; you forget to check if it’s rotten before you gobble it down”

The Cruel Prince by Holly Black

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When Jude and Taryn were children, a strange man showed up at their home, claimed their mother was his wife and their older sister Vivienne was his daughter. For the betrayal, the man murdered their parents and took them away to his home: the High Court of Faerie. As daughters of the High King’s top general, Jude and Taryn have been raised very well as part of the gentry, despite their mortal status. This means that while they wear the best clothes, enjoy an education, […]

“How foolish we were, to act as gods.”

Your One & Only by Adrianne Finlay

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For 300 years, there have been no humans on earth – at least not as we know them. As it became clear that the human race wouldn’t survive the Slow Plague, scientists formed an initiative to save humans by creating our survivors in a lab. Nine perfect humans were created – homo factus – and they were cloned and continue to be, creating the new society that now inhabit the earth.  Each of the three communities left on Earth maintains a society of 900 humans, […]



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