Did I enjoy Kelly Jones' Unusual Chickens for the Exceptional Poultry Farmer? Yes! Definitely. I think it is definitely gush-worthy! It is an epistolary novel that would be appropriate for elementary and middle schools.
Sophie Brown, the heroine, has just moved with her family (her mom and Dad) to Gravenstein, CA. She's moved from a big, big city (L.A) to a very rural one. Her dad inherited a very run-down, almost junky farm. But this farm, to Sophie's concern and eventual delight is the home to some mighty UNUSUAL chickens. And Sophie, with a little help from a correspondence course and friendly mailman, is determined to do her absolute best with them. She might have arrived at the farm clueless about chickens, but, she won't stay clueless. And these aren't ordinary, easy-to-manage chickens. These chickens are extraordinary and fantastical...and if one person in the community has her way, they won't stay under Sophie's care for long...
The novel is epistolary. She writes her grandma (who's dead), and her great-uncle-Jim (who's dead as well). She also writes the catalog people of Redwood Farm Supply. These letters are almost diary-like, and, she's well aware of the fact that the dead don't write back. Still the letters are just a delight to read...
I only wish I'd read this earlier in the year so I could have been among the first to gush about it.
I thought I had a favorite book about chickens, but now I'm not so sure. The other title I'd recommend is Love, Ruby Lavender by Deborah Wiles.
© 2015 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews
1 comment:
Fiction and chickens?! I will have to check these two out (and looks like my library has them! Thank you very much.
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