Unusual Chickens for the Exceptional Poultry Farmer,

Unusual Chickens for the Exceptional Poultry Farmer, written by Kelly Jones, illustrated by Katie Kath, 216 pages

Sophie and her parents have recently inherited her great-uncle's farm in rural California.  The timing couldn't have been better, what with her father having just lost his job -- so the family picks up and moves from Los Angeles to Blackbird Farm.  Neither Sophie nor her father know much about farming, and her mom's too busy with her freelance writing gig to teach them.  Just as her great-uncle's chickens begin wandering home, Sophie stumbles across a mysterious mail correspondence course in poultry farming.  She's going to need all the help she can get, because these chickens are HIGHLY unusual (semi-spoiler: they have superpowers!) and it appears that there's a poultry thief out to get them.

This story is told entirely through letters that Sophie writes to local (and mysterious) poultry-expert Agnes as well as her deceased abuelita and great-uncle, and is sure to appeal to fans of Roald Dahl (though Jones' writing lacks Dahl's typical disdain for adults).  The black and white illustrations go a long way to helping readers picture Sophie and the myriad breeds of chickens she encounters while the epistolary format should appeal to kids who love reading diary-style novels like Wimpy Kid and Dork Diaries.