School Library Journal Review
Gr 3-6-Sophie Brown and her chickens are back in the sequel to Unusual Chickens for the Exceptional Poultry Farmer and they've got a new challenge. After inheriting Redwood Farm, Sophie is determined to hatch chicks and return the farm back to its former glory. When her new brood arrives, she discovers that one of her chicks may be even more unusual than those she's raising. An inspection from the Unusual Poultry Committee will ultimately decide if Sophie can continue her work on the farm, and she and her friends are determined to pass. Fans of Sophie's first foray into farming will be delighted with the humor, heart, and chicken-hatching tips galore in this charming follow-up. Sophie continues to mature as a determined, relatable middle schooler who experiences the everyday concerns of fitting in at school and learning responsibility, along with raising magical animals. Acknowledgement of Sophie's Mexican American identity and the prejudice she experiences give this book additional depth and nuance. Most heartwarming is the depiction of the loving family and community that surrounds and supports her; it takes a village to raise unusual chickens as well as a 12-year-old girl. VERDICT A funny and relatable realistic fantasy sure to be enjoyed by farm-dwellers, urbanites, and everyone between.-Kelsey Johnson-Kaiser, St. Paul Public Library © Copyright 2018. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Horn Book Review
In Unusual Chickens for the Exceptional Poultry Farmer (rev. 5/15), Sophie took on the care of chickens with supernatural abilities. In this sequel, Sophie obtains two new chickens plus a clutch of eggsand out of one hatches a particularly unusual chick. Meanwhile, she has a somewhat uneasy start in middle school, where her biracial (white and Latina) identity makes her stand out; and her beloved cousin Lupe is staying with the family while attending college, an arrangement everyones happy with until a fire in the hen house appears to be Lupes fault. (Related: that particularly unusual chick can breathe small flames.) Jones again uses the epistolary format (emails with Hortensia of the Unusual Poultry Committee, Sophies observational notes, letters to her deceased abuelita and others) to blend the outlandishness of the premise with Sophies realistic concerns about her family and peers, as well as her believable inner conflicts about when to ask for help with her flock. Kaths humorous and loose line drawings are a good match for the (no pun intended) plucky heroines story. shoshana flax January/February 2019 p 94(c) Copyright 2018. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
An almost-13-year-old expands her poultry-farming operation in this sequel to Unusual Chickens for the Exceptional Poultry Farmer (2015).Sophie Brown has just received two new unusual chickens to add to her flock, but that's not allshe's about to receive fertile eggs, so she is putting together an incubator and learning all she can about how to nurture chicken eggs and get them ready to hatch. Resourceful and thoughtful, Sophie documents her entire processemailing with Hortensia, a chicken vendor; taking detailed notes about her unusual (they casually teleport objects or become invisible) hens; and writing letters to deceased but beloved adults Agnes, Great-Uncle Jim, and Abuelita. School is about to start, and Sophie's excited that her cousin Lupe will be coming to stay as she attends college nearby, but nothing can compare to the hatching of new chicks. Sophie's lower socio-economic status and identity as a brown-skinned, biracial Xicana figure into the plot heavily without reeking of tokenism. (Sophie's mom is Mexican-American; her dad is white.) Readers unfamiliar with the first book should feel caught up after a few dozen pages of this epistolary novel. Jones has married the trappings of traditional magical realismsmall towns, quirky people, almost-normal animalswith the angst of being the out-of-place kid in middle school, and it's no gimmick: just good worldbuilding and storytelling. Kath's humorous spot art is a delightful complement.Charming, thoughtful, and clever. (Magical realism. 9-13) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
