The Becket List (Blackberry Farm #1)

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

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.)