Book
Chicken girl / Heather Smith.
"Poppy used to be an optimist. But after a photo of her dressed as Rosie the Riveter is mocked online, she's having trouble seeing the good in the world. As a result, Poppy trades her beloved vintage clothes for a feathered chicken costume and accepts a job as an anonymous sign waver outside a restaurant. There, Poppy meets six-year-old girl Miracle, who helps Poppy see beyond her own pain, opening her eyes to the people around her: Cam, her twin brother, who is adjusting to life as an openly gay teen; Buck, a charming photographer with a cute British accent and a not-so-cute mean-streak; and Lewis a teen caring for an ailing parent, while struggling to reach the final stages of his gender transition. As the summer unfolds, Poppy stops glorifying the past and starts focusing on the present. But just as she comes to terms with the fact that there is good and bad in everyone, she is tested by a deep betrayal."
Record details
- ISBN: 9780143198680
- ISBN: 0143198688
- Physical Description: 234 pages ; 22 cm.
- Publisher: New York, New York : Penguin Teen, 2019.
- Copyright: ©2019
Search for related items by subject
| Subject: | Self-esteem > Juvenile fiction. Friendship > Juvenile fiction. Gay teenagers > Juvenile fiction. Summer > Juvenile fiction. Young adult fiction. |
| Genre: | Bildungsromans. |
Available copies
- 2 of 2 copies available at BC Interlibrary Connect.
- 1 of 1 copy available at Grand Forks and District Public Library. (Show)
Holds
- 0 current holds with 2 total copies.
Show Only Available Copies
| Location | Call Number / Copy Notes | Barcode | Shelving Location | Holdable? | Status | Due Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grand Forks | YA SMI (Text) | 35142002672128 | Young Adult | Volume hold | Available | - |
| Prince Rupert Library | J Smit (Text) | 33294002062255 | Juvenile Fiction | Volume hold | Available | - |
- Booklist Reviews : Booklist Reviews 2019 January #1
Full-figured Poppy loves imagining life in the forties. She particularly admires the powerful image of Rosie the Riveter, so much so that she emulates Rosie's dress and iconic pose for an internet pic. But when some joker digitally inserts a hamburger in her hand, the comments become fat-shamingly nasty. Poppy works as a chicken mascot, dancing and waving a sign in front of a restaurant. One day, a six-year-old girl, Miracle, tells Poppy about the people she knows living under a bridge, and Poppy soon meets the array of relatively good-natured misfits who congregate there. Thus there are plenty of characters in the story with intriguing backstories: Poppy's twin, Cam, is flamboyantly coming out; Miracle's mother is a prostitute; Buck is a charming, alcoholic Brit; Lewis is a transitioning teen. The feather-light characterization and the gleeful use of wordplay gives the narrative a lighter tone than might be expected. It's a quick read, so it may be forgiven if emotional transformations bloom a bit predictably. Recommend to readers interested in body image and gender issues. Grades 9-12. Copyright 2019 Booklist Reviews. - Kirkus Reviews : Kirkus Reviews 2019 January #1
A Canadian teen wallowing in suffering gets pulled out of it by people worse off than her. About six months ago, the internet was mean to Poppy. She posted a picture of herself posing like Rosie the Riveter, someone digitally edited a hamburger in her hand, fatphobic comments ensued, and Poppy retreated from her life. She stopped doing roller derby and took a job advertising for a restaurant while dressed in a full-body chicken suit. Her parents and twin brother, Cam, worry, but all Poppy wants to do is keep upsetting herself, binging on social media atrocities. When Poppy meets a small girl named Miracle, she's introduced to a community of homeless people and their friends and slowly learns to see outside her own pain. The plot reads like multiple lessons and morals haphazardly cobbled together instead of a novel. Miracle's mother is a sex worker, which appalls judgmental Poppy. Cam recently came out as gay and experiments with flamboyance, leading Poppy to conclude that he' s forgetting who he really is, and a rape scene plays into homophobic tropes about predatory gay men. One character seems to exist only to teach the reader about transgender issues, reduced to his desire for bottom surgery and his experiences with transphobia. The book follows a white default with some implied diversity in secondary characters. There's a lot to enjoy about Poppy's voice, but heavy-handed moralizing impedes the reading experience. (Realistic fiction. 14-18) Copyright Kirkus 2019 Kirkus/BPI Communications. All rights reserved. - School Library Journal Reviews : SLJ Reviews 2019 March
Copyright 2019 School Library Journal.Gr 9 Upâ When Internet trolls mock a photo of Poppy posing as Rosie the Riveter, the Canadian teen is deeply hurt and retreats from the world, taking on a job as a fast-food mascot; she wears a giant chicken suit. As she gets to know a young girl named Miracle and deals with numerous family issues, she comes to see her own problems as less serious. Smith explores myriad issues in this novel, including queer identity and coming out, sexual assault, homelessness, sex work, illegal drug use, body shaming, transgender defamation, elder care, white nationalism, immigration, and incarceration, but none are delved into with any depth. Poppy's self-induced loss of identity after being body shamed in an Internet forum is realistic, but her seeking comfort in the sleeping bag of a homeless young man minutes after meeting him is unbelievable. Poppy's own familial economic status seems contradictory at times. Supporting characters feel incomplete. Poppy's obsessive tendencies are not shown as consequential coping mechanisms and instead may be perceived as a flawed character trait. Smith's use of a repetitive onomatopoeia distracts from the story line.VERDICT With a multitude of young adult novels examining timely adolescent concerns, there are plentiful choices in place of this novel to support teens confronting these issues. Not recommended.âJillian Woychowski, West Haven High School, CT - Voice of Youth Advocates Reviews : VOYA Reviews 2019 February
Life is complicated. That sentiment certainly applies to main character Poppy, her friends, and her family. Life is so complicated that Poppy longs to live during the simpler times of the World War II era. It would be so much easier, she thinks, to have clear-cut knowledge of what is right and what is wrong. Poppy admires and tries to emulate the can-do attitude of Rosie the Riveter until a photo of Poppy goes viral for all the wrong reasons. Poppy sinks into a downward spiral of doubt and self-pity. Her twin brother, Cam, does his best to bring her back up to her former fun-loving, confident self. It is when she meets a six-year-old homeless girl under a bridge that Poppy begins to put her own problems into perspective. Although real life is most definitely complex, complexity in a novel can be unwieldy. So much goes on in Chicken Girlâsocial media bullying, body shaming, rape and victim-shaming, gender transition, grief, homelessness, and moreâthat Poppy's coming-of-age story feels unfocused. There are just too many lessons that she learns in this one summer break.âDebbie Kirchhoff. 3Q 4P J S Copyright 2019 Voya Reviews.
