Chicken Friend

by Nicola Morgan

Becca and her eccentric family have moved to a small village and Becca desperately misses her friends. Then she meets Jazz and Mel - two cool local girls of her own age, who seem much older. Keen to impress, Becca agrees to let their gang of friends come to her twelfth birthday party - and insists her parents stay away. But someone has brought alcohol and things get out of hand. One of Becca's little brothers falls into the stream and is rescued just in time, and then a fire is started in the barn by a cigarette. As Jazz shows a more vulnerable, human side, and a real friendship tentatively begins, Becca realizes that she doesn't need to change herself to try to fit in.

153 pages, Paperback

First published February 3, 2005

Reviews

[Willen P · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn't think I would actually read this all. I remember the book from back in late 2006, but I'd never finished it.

Decided to try it and it intrigued me enough to read it fully (though I was reading an American version). It was quirky, humorous (which I didn't expect), serious at times, and slightly sad. I can't believe we never got to meet Stella in person, after all. The only bits that I didn't like so much was when she went off at a tangent. Otherwise, it was a funny story.

[Susan Wight · Rating 3 out of 5]

Becca thinks her family is straight out of ‘Crazyville’. Her scientist mother and writer father have just decided to home educate Becca and her twin four-year-old brothers because school impinges on their civil liberties. They move to the country and embark on an open-ended education. Becca isn’t too sure about the move; she misses her best friend, Stella, and worries about how she’ll ever make new friends but she is looking forward to having chickens which will be her very own project. She meets two local girls who seem really cool and she tries hard to fit in with them but, when things don’t turn out well, Becca learns that it is better to be true to yourself than to work too hard to fit in with people you really aren’t comfortable with.
Home Ed. Style: Mainly self-directed with some set project work.
Home Ed Portrayal: A bit eccentric but in an endearing kind of way.
Conclusion: An amusing and enjoyable read. Becca is a likeable character who is unsure of herself. She has a believable voice and the story is funny, insightful and moving.

[babyhippoface · Rating 2 out of 5]

Becca, a home-schooled eleven-year-old who finds her parents eccentric and little brothers annoying, desperately wants to impress Jazz and Mel, two “seriously cool” girls in her new neighborhood, even if it means changing who she really is. She learns there can be a high price to pay for betraying your true self, however, when the careless actions of Jazz, Mel, and their friends endanger the family’s chickens, barn, and even the life of her brother at Becca’s unsupervised twelfth birthday party. Though she may occasionally express thoughts a bit too mature for an unsure, self-conscious preteen, Becca is in many ways a typical eleven-year-old and a believable narrator as she hides her diabetes in order to fit in, struggles with feelings of loyalty to her best friend Stella, and, ultimately, learns that it is best to just be yourself.

[Kristal · Rating 3 out of 5]

Becca has a weird family. Her father writes tacky tv programs, her mother invents useless things and well, her twin brothers, are just gross! But when her family decides to uproot her from her normal school and move into the country where she will be home schooled and raise chickens, it's almost too much from Becca. But she has the most wonderful best friend in the world, Stella. But Stella is still in London and Becca needs new friends now. So she finds two girls who she will do almost anything to fit in with, even if it means not being herself. Soon she discovers what being a true friend means and that no matter how weird or gross they are, your family will always be there for you. And that the chickens always know best.

[Alexa Hamilton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Becca has diabetes, which she hides from both the reader and her friends. Read this for my children's lit project about food issues. The focus wasn't totally on the diabetes, but it would have been one note had that been the case.

[Emma · Rating 1 out of 5]

I stopped reading this book when she said many curse words, all in one spot! It was also really weird, the whole family functioning thing was not well written. I did not like this book.

[Sarah3 · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's kind of wierd and secretive.

[Lili · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like the voice of the protagonist, 11 year-old Becca, but other than that it wasn't so good.