The Becket List: A Blackberry Farm Story

by Adele Griffin

LeUyen Pham (Illustrator)

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 neighbour 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.

• ISBN10: 1616207906
• ISBN13: 9781616207908
• Publish Date: 1 March 2019
• Publish Status: Active
• Out of Print: 29 April 2023
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Algonquin Books
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 208
• Language: English
• URL: http://melia.co.uk/page/detail/?k=9781616207908

Reviews

[Sam@WLABB]

"Beautiful Alert!", Becket is going to steal your heart.

Becket was more than ready to start her new life in the country. She even had a list to help her become an official country kid. So, Becket was ready for the country, but was the country ready for Becket?

It was love at first page! Becket had such a wonderful voice, and I adore all her energy and enthusiasm. I swear, the kid should be a motivational speaker, because her zest for all things was contagious. Though Becket was excited about all the new things she was going to experience, her confidence waned a little, here and there, as she adjusted. But, I was rooting for her the whole time, because she was so fabulous, fantastic, and spunky.

Since Becket was (almost) 10, we spent a lot of time with her family. We got to peek in on their daily interactions, and what a lovely family they were. I especially loved Gram. She was warm and wonderful and filled that soft spot I have in my heart for grandma's.

When I was 13, my family moved from Brooklyn to a 1-square mile town in NJ. Though it wasn't as "country" as Becket's new home, it was a big change from my former home. I really related to the the adjustments Becket had to make, and also really loved the look into what it's like to live on a farm. We saw the awesome and ugly sides of it, but this all tied into the overall theme of this book, which was about embracing change and adapting when necessary.

I definitely smile a LOT as I read this book. I did wonder why so many people were trying to stifle Becket's enthusiasm by telling her to quiet down all the time, and I won't even mention what happened in the last chapter, because I have already cried a smile river about it, but overall this was fun and wonderful book, where I got to take an adventure with an enchanting character as she embraced and adjusted to her new normal.

*ARC provided in exchange for an honest review.

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