teen fiction - Poppy, a 40s-enthusiast, former roller derby athlete, and healthy girl of size deals with cyber trolls and the meanness of the world in general; her gay twin brother deals with sexual assault. She makes a 6-year-old friend Miracle, a precocious darling dancer whose mother is a recovering drug addict who now earns her living as a prostitute; Miracle spends a lot of her time visiting her homeless friends. One of Poppy's love interests is a trans male (he is patient enough to educate her about multiple things--she means well but is pretty ignorant and says some thoughtless things). Setting is suburban/urban Canada. ( )

Heather Smith is such a versatile author. In the past few years she has written some incredible picture books, a critically acclaimed middle grade novel, and raw, honest young adult novels. Although all very different genres with very different audiences, the one element you can expect from all of her writing is honesty and courage.

The newest of her young adult novels is Chicken Girl. Poppy is an optimistic hilarious sixteen year old girl with an affinity to anything from the second world war era, especially Rosie the Riveter. When the online trolls start mocking a picture of her in Reddit, her optimism drains, she loses her spark and takes a summer job as a restaurant mascot, dressed in a huge chicken costume. Soon she discovers a little Miracle which opens her eyes to the world around her and meets an incredible cast of characters who challenge her to accept the good in the world, even when faced with so much bad.

Heather Smith is truly writing for the new generation of teens and young adults. She is not afraid to tackle some of the most current and challenging topics young people face today. Her writing is honest and at times difficult but so incredibly necessary. Young people are bombarded with so many contradictory messages constantly through social media and are facing some of the highest levels of mental illness and anxiety in recent history. Books like Chicken Girl allow young people to see themselves, to face some of the huge questions face and to recognize some very hard truths. This story is one of redemption, of questioning long held beliefs and of challenging the status quo. Poppy is written in such an authentic way, saying all of the wrong things at times, holding some pretty interesting beliefs and just being a teenager still trying to figure out the world and her place in it. The other characters challenge Poppy and question all of the ideas she holds, making her a stronger person for it. The story is beautiful and funny and charming and heartbreaking all at the same time ( )

A special thank you to LibraryThing Early Reviewers and Penguin Teen for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Poppy has always been close to her twin brother, Cam, and the two share a fondness for blending words (clever writing on Smith's part). But lately they haven't been as close because they are each dealing with their own struggles. Cam has recently come out and is trying to adjust to life as an openly gay teen. Poppy used to be happy with her vintage style and curves until a photo of her dressed as Rosie the Riveter surfaces online and she is mocked for her size. Now she is unsure of herself and is struggling to see the good in things.

Deciding to be as invisible as possible, Poppy accepts a job at Chen Chicken restaurant where she dresses up as a chicken and waves a sign to attract customers. It is here where she meets a six-year-old girl, Miracle, who introduces her to a group of misfits living under a bridge: Buck, a cute British photographer who isn't very cute when he is drinking; Thumper, an elderly homeless man; and Lewis, a teen who is caring for his only living parent while struggling to reach the final stages of his gender transition.

But just as she comes to terms with the fact that there is good and bad in everyone, she is tested by a deep betrayal.

There is a lot to unpack here, so bear with me. While there were some great passages, overall I was completely overwhelmed, and not in a good way. Poppy is not a character that readers will warm up to easily. There are parts of her personality that were completely cringeworthy (why does she watch those videos on YouTube?) She's also selfish and judgemental. And while this is a coming-of-age story and part of her trajectory, there are just too many obstacles to make this plausible. I can't help but feel that Smith was trying to check too many boxes.

Heather Smith, I applaud you for writing marginalized characters and shining a light on some very real issues, but there's too much going on with not enough detail. ( )

I was very excited to read this book but unfortunately was overall disappointed with the story. I found that the plot jumped all over the place and I couldn’t keep up with what was going on. I wanted to like the characters but couldn’t keep up with their storylines and found that they were all jumbled together and I couldn’t keep track of what happened to which character. Very sad to say that I wouldn’t pick this book up again. ( )

Poppy has a lot going on in her life - a summer job as a chicken mascot for a local restaurant, a gay twin brother, an obsession with the 1940's, and her new friends who live under a bridge - an elderly homeless man, a teenage photographer who has alcohol and anger issues, a transgender teenager dealing with a terminally-ill father and a grandmother who refuses to accept his gender, and a little girl who is left in the care of this strange mix of people while her mother works nights. This was a good read about a cast of believable characters with maybe a bit too many human story lines to give any one of them the opportunity to develop further. Could be a source for spin-off stories. Recommended. ( )