Unusual Chickens for the Exceptional Poultry Farmer by Kelly Jones
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
What a delight of a book! I think it’s aimed toward middle-school-age kids, but no matter. It doesn’t get much better than chickens with super powers. This story of twelve-year-old Sophie and her parents, taking refuge in the somewhat dilapidated farm her father has inherited and thankful to have it too, following her father’s layoff from his job, is a quick read, warm and funny and perfect for a rainy afternoon.
The epistolary format is one of my favorites and it’s even better when some of the letters are from…well, no spoilers, but this story and the way it is told is quirky and refreshing. The illustrations are delightful.
I appreciated the matter-of-fact inclusion of the juxtaposition between the haves and the have-nots. The depiction of life as a brown person in a predominantly white community, with their condescending assumptions and microaggressions, is timely. A circumspect shout-out to LGBT inclusion made me smile. Even if young kids aren’t living this stuff, the world is a diverse place and their literature should reflect that and this book gets with the program nicely.
Highly recommended, and I’ll definitely be reading the sequel. I hope there are several.
Bookshelves: ya, epistolary, coming-of-age, magic, supernatural
99 Monkeys 