Publishers Weekly
05/06/2019
After her veterinarian parents decide to move from the city to live on Gran’s Blackberry Farm, Becket Branch, 9, doesn’t think she’ll miss much—except, maybe, her best friend Caleb, the apartment she’s grown up in, and the egg and cheese on a roll from Sugarman’s Deli. Still, she is determined to put on a brave, happy face so that her twin brother, Nicholas, won’t be even more upset about the move then he already is. Armed with her growing list, “How to Be a Country Kid,” Becket is ready to have new adventures (standing up to a mean chicken, attending Young Explorers Camp), make new friends, and (she hopes) get a dog. Things don’t end up going the way she plans, though, and she soon discovers that country living isn’t as easy as she’d thought. Heartwarming prose by Griffin (the Oodlethunks series) is as energetic as Becket herself, while expressive spot art by Pham (Stop That Yawn!) reinforces the story’s action and breaks up the text for younger readers. In the end, Becket learns to take Gran’s message to heart: “That’s life.... Most reliable thing about it are the twists and turns.” Final art not seen by PW. Ages 7–11. (Apr.)
From the Publisher
This is not just a terrific book about sharing friends with siblings, rolling with changes, and the difficulty of making new friends after a move. It is also (spoiler alert) a terrific, gentle, earnest book for coping with pet loss . . . [Griffin's] humor, pathos, quick character development, and enjoyable dialogue are just as good as ever, and Pham’s illustrations . . . are charming and beautifully humorous in how they capture emotional expression. A sparkling story of weathering change.”—Booklist, starred review “Becket is an outgoing, refreshingly self-confident protagonist . . . Readers will appreciate her ability to bounce back from whatever life hands her. Pham’s sketch drawings scattered throughout enhance the energy and humor of the story. Give this to kids who enjoy stories with plucky female protagonists.”—School Library Journal “Becket is a regular laundry list of confidently delivered safety sayings, and it's just one of her many original and sparkling traits . . . the storyline is warm and amusing as Becket and her two siblings navigate their new life on a farm.”—Kirkus Reviews “An enjoyable novel for young readers beginning to explore the world on their own terms.”—Horn Book Magazine “Becket’s narration vibrates with energy and cheer…Pham’s black and white illustrations…have just the right amount of comic flair to match the vibrant humor of Becket’s story.”—The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books “Perfect . . . This fun and colorful novel will surely make you happy and brighten up your day.”—Newsday
School Library Journal
02/01/2019
Gr 2–4—Becket Branch and her family are moving from the city to her grandmother's farm in the country, and Becket is very excited about all the changes that are coming her way. She keeps a watchful eye for what she calls "Beautiful alerts" or any wonderful thing she wants to make a note of. She also keeps a list of all the new experiences she will be having as a country kid, including doing barnyard chores and making a new best friend. Naturally, she hits a few rough patches along the way. The animals don't always cooperate, her new potential best friend seems more interested in befriending her twin brother, and her senior citizen city dog isn't quite the country dog she was wishing for. But it is all part of the many new experiences that country life has to offer. Becket is an outgoing, refreshingly self-confident protagonist, and although she may sometimes come across as a bit pushy to her fellow characters, her enthusiasm is infectious. Readers will appreciate her ability to bounce back from whatever life hands her. Pham's sketch drawings scattered throughout enhance the energy and humor of the story. VERDICT Give this to kids who enjoy stories with plucky female protagonists. Recommended for most collections.—Jessica Marie, Salem Public Library, OR
Kirkus Reviews
2018-10-28
A (nearly) 10-year-old girl adjusts to country living after moving with her family from the city.
City child Rebecca renames herself Becket when she moves with her family to the country, where her veterinarian parents take over the vet clinic near the farm where her father grew up. Becket is noisy, confident, and full of life, narrating in an enthusiastic first person, present tense. She announces "Beautiful Alerts" when she sees beauty—a sunset, a thunderstorm, Gran—and says something when she sees something, often to amusing effect ("Stranger Danger!" she warns her mother at the country train station, when a man asks the time). In fact, Becket is a regular laundry list of confidently delivered safety sayings, and it's just one of her many original and sparkling traits. What doesn't sparkle, however, is the story's subtle undercurrent of admonition directed at Becket's boisterousness and confidence. "A little lower," the camp counselor tells her. "Lower the volume," her father says. These messages, underscoring the societal notion that girls should be quiet and self-effacing, are not delivered to boy characters and are, thankfully, ignored by Becket. Otherwise, the storyline is warm and amusing as Becket and her two siblings navigate their new life on a farm. A brown-skinned family from Peru on a nearby alpaca farm adds some diversity, as do the black-presenting friends who visit the Branches from the city; the Branches themselves are white. Pham's energetic spot art enhances Griffin's characterizations.
The ebullience of an irrepressible female protagonist is occasionally threatened by gender-typing in this otherwise entertaining story. (Fiction. 8-10)
