Unusual Chickens for the Exceptional Poultry Farmer

Sophie writes to Great-Uncle Jim to tell him how well his chickens are doing. She cleans up after them and ensures that they have fresh food and water every day. She doesn’t always get eggs, but today she got one brown and one glass egg. She also reads to the chickens every day because she heard that that’s good for babies.

Sophie was afraid of Buffy until Agnes assured her that only Buffy’s chicks can turn things to stone. She wishes that Agnes would tell her more about Buffy, but Sophie suspects that Agnes is a little disorganized.

Sophie hung out with Chris again. Sophie feels weird that Chris knew Jim better than she did. Chris told Sophie about poultry shows and how Jim used to show some of his chickens. Sophie likes the idea of showing poultry but doesn’t think that she can talk in front of everyone. She’d rather go to a show to look at everyone else’s chickens.

Sophie writes that Chris is a comic artist. After he drew a few pictures of the chickens, Chris and Sophie decided to make a comic together. Sophie includes a comic strip by Chris.

A comic strip shows a chicken telling a joke on a microphone.

Sophie adds that she and Chris played on the tire swing. She’s hoping to find enough rope to hang another. Chris also showed her how to plant sunflower seeds to harvest for the chickens.

Illustrations show Chris and Sophie playing on the tire swing.

Sophie writes to Agnes. A worker at the feed store, Jane, asked Sophie if she found any glass eggs around the farm. Jim used to sell them to the feed store for a dollar each, and the feed store would sell them to people to trick their chickens into laying eggs. She didn’t seem to know that they were real eggs from a hen. Sophie wants permission from Agnes to sell the glass eggs, as the feed is running out quickly now with four chickens.

Jane also gave Sophie a flyer for the upcoming poultry show. It’s too late to enter, but Jane encouraged Sophie to attend. Sophie asked if Redwood Farm Supply would be there, but Jane said that Redwood has been closed for years. Sophie suspects that Agnes is selling the chickens in secret, but she wants to know what that’s about. She also asks if Ms. Griegson is really trying to buy the farm. Sophie hopes that Agnes responds quickly so that she can start selling the eggs if she can.

An illustration features the flyer for the poultry show, which is open to youth entrants and will be judged by Ms. Griegson and Ms. O’Malley. It takes place on July 1, 2014. 

Sophie writes to Agnes again. She’s been responsible about keeping the chickens’ eggs in the fridge. She can tell which eggs belong to which chicken. Sophie has a system for keeping track of the eggs. She thinks that it’ll be okay to sell Henrietta’s eggs to the feed store, since Great-Uncle Jim did, but she’d like to hear back from Agnes. Sophie is ready for lesson three of the chicken course. She asks about the Speckled Sussex chickens that she hasn’t found yet.

An illustration shows Sophie, Mom, and Dad dancing around the farmhouse living room.

Sophie writes to Abuelita. She made migas for Mom and Dad, which turned out great with the fresh eggs. Mom was so proud that she called her brothers and sisters and told them about the recipe, which Tía Catalina asked Sophie to email to her. Sophie’s cousins were impressed to learn that Sophie has chickens. The family decided to dance off the migas, like they used to do at Tío Fernando’s after a big meal.

Sophie told her chickens how much the family loved their eggs. She’d like to make migas for Chris sometime, since he said that fresh eggs are his favorite. Sophie wishes that she could make migas for Abuelita.

The next few pages contain the recipe and instructions for Sophie’s migas.

Sophie writes to Agnes, wondering why Agnes hasn’t written back. Sophie asked Gregory if he’d delivered the letters to Redwood Farm, and he confirmed that he did. He also told Sophie that he’s always sure to deliver Agnes’s letters right away.

Sophie hopes that Agnes is okay. She speculates that Agnes could just be busy preparing for the poultry show tomorrow. Sophie hopes to meet her there. Sophie has begun selling Henrietta’s eggs to the feed store. She hopes that Agnes understands.