Blackberry Farm (Griffin)

Adventure and discover with the bold and intrepid Becket Branch when her family's move from city to a country farm means big changes! Everything is changing for Becket Branch. From subways to sidewalks to safety rules, Becket is a city kid born and raised. Now the Branch family is trading urban bustle for big green fields and moving to Gran's farm, where Becket has to make sense of new routines from feeding animals to baling hay. And as much as Becket loves to yell "Beautiful Alert!" there's a lot about the countryside that is just plain odd. But Becket is ready to put her own spin on country life. Whether selling her mouth-puckering lemonade, feeding hostile hens, or trying to make a best friend of her new neighbor Frieda Franca, Becket is determined to use her city smarts to get a grip on farm living. Laugh and learn with Becket as she mucks through the messy, exuberant human experience of change she didn't ask for, in a story that sparkles with quirky characters and lasting connections.

More than anything else-even more than the best birthday party ever-Becket Branch wants a dog for her tenth birthday. But her twin brother, Nicholas, has secretly been wishing for a cat. Lucky for Becket and Nicholas, their animal-loving parents have an animal-loving surprise for them: they're going to the local shelter and adopting both a cat and a dog. It should be the biggest BEAUTIFUL ALERT ever, but Becket's dream dog, Dibs, turns out to be a super-shy scaredy-pooch who is going to need a lot of training. Meanwhile, Nicholas's cat, Given, is more outgoing and attention-seeking than the just-for-him pet he was expecting. Laugh along as Becket fishes mice out of Nicholas's slippers, puts bullies in their place, and tries, and tries again, to train Dibs-all while learning new life lessons and keeping up with her other farm chores. With black-and-white drawings throughout by award-winning illustrator LeUyen Pham (Real Friends), this second volume of the Blackberry Farm series offers a gentle message about embracing new friends who may not match preconceived expectations.