The Trouble with Chickens by Doreen Cronin

Title: The Trouble with Chickens
Author: Doreen Cronin
Publisher: HarperCollins
Pub Date: 3/1/2011
Reviewed from: library copy
Grades 2 and up

booktalk

J. J. Tully is a world weary dog recently retired from the search and rescue business. All he wants is some peace and quiet. But then a chick comes into his doghouse and he just knows this chick spells trouble. And so do the other chicks. But J. J. Tully is on the case! A baby chick is missing and he is just the dog to help out - assuming the promised cheeseburgers do indeed appear.

good for

Fans of Chet Gecko and other animal noir (is animal noir a genre? It is now. And I love it. Film Noir - film + middle grade novel + animals = Animal Noir) will be clamboring for this one. I've also recently given this book to two different children who have recently started keeping chickens who wanted novels about chickens and both of them loved them and wanted more exactly like it.

other rambles

For full disclosure, The Trouble with Chickens is similar to Delirium in that I was sent an eGalley back when I was going through a bit of a TIME and I didn't get around to reading the ARC before it expired but I did devour the print copy when it came into my library. So while I read my library's copy, there was the initial offer of a free galley from the publisher that i feel I need to acknowledge.