The Chicken Dance

by Jacques Couvillon

On his birthday, Don Schmidt spends the day waiting patiently for his big surprise― a cake, presents, maybe a Chinese clown . . . . But instead, his batty parents get into their monthly argument. This time it's because his mother has to feed the chickens. It ends with her shouting the same thing as always about their Louisiana chicken farm: "I hate it here!"
What follows is Don's journey from obscurity to fame and back again, when he becomes the youngest kid to ever win the Horse Island Dairy Festival chicken-judging contest. Gradually, his mom notices that something strange is going on―everyone knows her son!―but once she realizes that Don has become the town celebrity, she sees that there may be benefits to living on a chicken farm. What she doesn't seem to see are the benefits of having a son like Don.
For Don, the contest is the beginning of a big, big adventure. It involves trips to New Orleans and Baton Rouge, fair weather friends, a missing sister, and one big secret. Readers will cheer for Don, who goes out of his way to see the good in everything.

Genres: Young Adult, Fiction, Middle Grade, Realistic Fiction, Juvenile, Historical Fiction, Childrens

326 pages, Hardcover

First published August 21, 2007

Reviews

[Taylor Luquette · Rating 3 out of 5]

I skimmed and scan the entire book. I really wasn’t into it, but I wanted to understand the gist.

[Edith · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a wonderful book about an ignored little boy who lives on a chicken farm and has crazy mean parents. So he turns to the chickens for companionship. I am so happy to see they changed the cover of this book to something more exciting. The copy I got from BEA just had boring chickens on it. Sooo, this book would be a 5 star book if the ending hadn't just dropped off. Literally it was like the author realized he was writing a kids' book & that it was getting too long, so he decided to stop. Bam, I'm done. I checked my book to see if I was missing pages or if something happened. It is by far the most unwrapped up ending for a kids' book I've ever read. That said, I still LOVED it. The characters are fabulous & the story keeps you guessing. And I laughed a lot & who doesn't love chicken humor?

[Jonathan Ward · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was one of the hardest I’ve read in a while because it was so dull. The parents have no redeeming qualities, and the naïveté of Don is so intense that it’s almost boring. The story doesn’t even have a “good” ending.

[Arminzerella · Rating 4 out of 5]

Don’s family keeps chickens for “ambience.” When Don’s uncle died and left them the house it was on the condition that they keep at least twenty-five chickens on the premises at all times. No one paid much attention to the chickens except Don. Then, Don, eleven, becomes the youngest kid ever to win the chicken-judging competition in Horse Island. His victory changes everything. Formerly ignored or teased by the other kids, Don becomes the town darling. Everyone wants to know him and everyone wants his eggs.

Don’s family has always had some dark secrets – Don was told, for instance, that his sister Dawn was dead. But, he discovers that she has been missing for the past eleven years, and that his parents have been paying a detective to track her down. When Don discovers a birth certificate with the name “Stanley” on it, he starts becoming suspicious. But the truth about “Stanley,” when it is revealed, is nothing like what he imagines.

Don is a very down to earth kind of kid. He’s bright and resilient even though his parents don’t provide a particularly healthy or nurturing environment. Don doesn’t have any friends, so he develops a close relationship with his chickens – he tells them everything and he learns everything he can about them (this is what makes him a truly excellent judge of chicken flesh). It’s almost painful to read how neglected Don is – you get the feeling that he would absolutely bloom in the right environment with just a little encouragement. But his mother is so self-absorbed, and his father is just getting through life – both are way too preoccupied with their own problems to pay much attention to Don.

When Don discovers Dawn and finds out that she’s his actual mother, he still chooses to remain with the woman who *raised* him – despite the fact that she’s selfish and negligent. I’m not sure what to think about that. It’s not like he has a lot of great options, but I still wanted something better for him and I’m really not convinced that his mother is the person who can give it to him. But, Don really loves the only mother he has known; perhaps it will be enough for them both. Don is an amusingly focused and stubborn little guy. He will alternately crack you up and make you ache.

[Autumn · Rating 2 out of 5]

The premise of this book is interesting: a boy named Don wins a chicken judging contest which becomes a surprising catalyst for revealing family secrets. The telling of the story, however, and its ending are unsatisfying. The characters aren't fully developed; there always seemed to be something off, especially with Don and his mother. Most of the time, Don seems much younger than 12 years-old, and his fixation on certain things, his lack of friends, the conclusions he makes based on certain information hints at him having some social or mental issues. However, it's never stated so it's hard to understand his character. HIs parents are oddly distant. His mother is just weird and you wonder what mental or psychological issues she has. The dad tiptoes around her and Don doesn't seem to question anything; he seems to accept all the weirdness and cruelty as normal. They aren't quirky, just odd and confusing. You don't understand their motives or reasoning. This is unfortunate because Don's decision at the end should have meant much more than it did.

Interesting premise, but unsatisfying ending. Maybe part of it is that my copy, which I got from a used book sale, says it is an advanced, uncorrected proof. Maybe the final copy is clearer and more clean-cut.

[Lucas]

(review written from the perspective of an 8th grader in 2013)

I read this book in 4th grade, and it really surprised me with its ending and plot twist (again, wow). Reading this in 8th grade really amazed me with its ending again, even though I knew how it would end. But the fact that his "sister" was actually his mother , I was ready to die at that point, because everything made sense. Although I liked how that went, I questioned the author and the book, why didn't Don move with his real mother, instead of his grandma?

I rate this a 5/5, because it deserves so.

[Steve Griffin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book, it’s a fantastic take on the huge capacity for patience and acceptance that children have, and the things they’ll do to ensure that no matter what they’ll find a way to have fun and give their lives meaning. Don is a winning example of one of those kids who end up parenting their parents. His final act of kindness breaks your heart. My only criticism is that the book feels a drawn out towards the end – but that’s not enough to knock it off the top spot.

Surely the best book you’ll ever read about chickens, too.

[Lillian Angelovic · Rating 4 out of 5]

Story of a sweet kid whose family is a real mess, and who just wants to love and be loved. The addition of chickens only makes it sweeter. I loved the main character and his matter-of-fact approach to life. He deserved a better family than he got, but he proved that a good soul shines through, even in the weirdest situations. Also, chickens really do make good listeners, in case you wondered.

[Grace · Rating 5 out of 5]

SUCH a good book! I remember reading this back in like 6th or 7th grade and loving how weird it was. I haven't read it in a while but it was so good when I read it back then, I don't know why it has such a low rating! It's so good!

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

My 9-yr old came home from the library with this one. I started reading it at the same time as him so we could talk about it and was totally impressed. It's a page-turning reading.

[Juanita · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well that was different.

Don and his parents live on chicken island where most people raise chickens or at least have great appreciation for them. Everyone except Don's mother who calls them vermin. Don is a quiet, shy kid that doesn't really fit in at school and is ignored by his classmates and his parents who are so detached they can't even remember his birthday. He ends up befriending his family chickens and learning so much about chickens that he's able to enter a chicken judging contest and set in motion a whole course of events. Lots of family secrets in this story. Adults reading this story will figure things out quicker than the protagonist because he thinks like a naive 11 year old.

its a middle grade novel and there's nothing explicit in it but there are some mature themes which i can't really list without a spoiler alert. It reminded me of sometimes kids cartoons have jokes or references with innendo that is over younger kids heads but adults get.

[Camille Hoffmann · Rating 3 out of 5]

A quirky but enjoyable book. I thought the main character was naive, but sweet. I found this in the junior fiction section, but I wouldn't hand it to my 10 year old. It's never explicit, but hints at things like strip clubs and exotic dancing, affairs, teen pregnancies, unhappy marriages, etc. As an adult reading it, I thought it was kind of sad. And again, it wasn't graphic in any way, but it's just not something I'd want to try to explain to my 10 year old as he asks me questions about what's going on.

[Jo · Rating 2 out of 5]

Unfortunately, too middle grade for me. As a middle grade novel, I don't have any real complaints except that I feel our MC/Narrator read younger than 12. Perhaps that's accurate, considering his lack of socialization?

[Robin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Meh. I read this because I love chickens and there were not nearly enough chickens in it. However, this is a YA book so I am not really qualifed to rate this book. Some of it was pretty whacky and I liked that about the book but a lot of it seemed sort of awkward.

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was a little strange at first, but then It got better.

[Ashley Simek · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kept me wanting to find out what happens next... but I was let down by the ending. Overall a good, light read.

[Ruthie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I... I... this book is sorta depressing. um... this book was good but in a sort of Coraline-y way. Yeah. that's all.

[Dorian Birdsong · Rating 2 out of 5]

Read as a young adult.

[Farrar · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn't like the ending.

[Simone · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sad but captivating...Audubon version was outstanding

[Tasha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Don Schmidt lives on a chicken farm in Horse Island, Louisiana. He is unpopular at school (he has absolutely no friends and everyone refers to him as "new kid," even though he has lived on Horse Island since kindergarten) and at home (where his mother constantly refers to his dead sister Dawn, and thinks the world revolves around herself). Out of loneliness he befriends the chickens living in his backyard and they become his best friends. Don's luck soon changes when he becomes the youngest person ever to win the chicken-judging contest at the local dairy fair. Everyone wants to be his friend and his mother seems to care about him a little more, but not enough to stop ordering him around. Don is content with his life until he finds a metal box with a birth certificate in it. The birth certificate belongs to a boy named Stanley. Don wonders who Stanley could be and when he asks his father who he is his Father simply tells him that it is his birth certificate and that they changed his name to Don, because the uncle who he was named after was a bad man. Don doesn't believe his father and begins to believe that Stanley is actually his twin that got kidnapped when they were younger. Stanley isn't real, but Don believes he is and talks to him like he was a normal person. Don soon learns that the hidden birth certificate isn't the only secret his parents have been keeping from him. Once he learns one secret he is hungry for more, and then they all unravel into a shocking, unforeseeable truth.

For the most part I enjoyed the book. It was full of unexpected twists and turns and made me laugh. There were parts of the book though that made me very mad. Especially when Don's mother forgot Don's birthday - twice, and when she wouldn't even congratulate him on his winning the chicken-judging contest. I would get very frustrated with the book and put it down and walk away at these points, because I feel that no mother should ever forget a child's birthday and should never treat their child the way his mother treated him. Besides this, the book was suspenseful and ends with a bang you would never see coming. Jacques Couvillon created a good first novel and I look forward to reading what he has coming next!

[Jennifer Wardrip · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reviewed by Lori P. for TeensReadToo.com

How do you go from being an unknown in Horse Island to becoming famous? It's simple -- win a chicken judging contest. The minimum age for entering the contest has been lowered to eleven this year. Don Schmidt sees this as his opportunity to become more well-known and to make a difference in his normal ho-hum life. He rents all kinds of different books from the library and becomes a chicken "expert."

The chicken judging contest is only the beginning of the many changes in Don's life. He lives with his Mother and Father; they don't want him to ever call them Mom and Dad. They are an unusual family who always eat TV dinners. Mother even surprises Father and Don when having a dinner party, but it is quite a hassle getting all the potatoes out of those foil trays. Don is caught looking at some papers in his parents' room, and finds out that his real name is Stanley. Mother and Father are always talking about his sister Dawn, who disappeared around the time that Don was born. Don is always living in her shadow. No mention of whether she is dead or was kidnapped intrigues Don, so he decides to go search for her.

Don does such a great job at judging chickens that he is chosen to attend the regional chicken judging event in Baton Rouge. He learns from a dancer that Dawn has been seen dancing at a club in the same town. He enlists the help of one of his friends and the boys set out on the streets and find her. Its one discovery after another while on the trail of Dawn.

This is a very exciting book with its many twists and turns. There is a certain amount of mystery involved as well as an intriguing storyline with often times very humorous portions. This is a must-read for those tweens who enjoy a story where an ordinary boy makes himself known and sets his boring life on a more exciting track. This book would definitely be enjoyed by girls as well as boys, though. There will be portions where you will be cackling with laughter. You will never do "the chicken dance" the same way again.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Booktalk: The Chicken Dance is a funny little dance that has the dancers flap their arms up and down like a chicken. The Chicken Dance in this book is the main character's life. In one year, Don goes from having no friends and parents who ignore and forget him to having a chicken farm that makes him and his mother the most popular people in town. But more than becoming popular, in the course of that year Don uncovers family secrets that have been kept from him his whole life.

This book takes you into Don's head and you watch him think through his life and all that happens to him in one year. You watch as he wins the local chicken-judging contest and becomes famous in his town. You watch as he goes from a nameless nobody to the most popular boy in school. You watch as his oblivious mother ruins it for him by forcing him to dance in public--and Don is once again alone with his parents who ignore and forget him.

But worst of all you watch as Don discovers that his parents have lied to him his whole life. He finds a birth certificate hidden in the house: a birth certificate with someone else's name on it and HIS birthday. Who exactly is Stanley? He also finds a check written to a Mr. Munson for "Dawn," his dead sister. Who is Mr. Munson and why did his parents pay them money for Dawn?

Don's life is a chicken dance: Don moves awkwardly through his life trying to make sense of everything that happens to him. Watch as Don tries--and fails--to get his mother's affection over and over again. Watch as Don slowly comes to understand his family. A beautiful story... though with an abrupt ending.

[Sandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

In his first novel, Jacques Couvillon presents teens with a heartfelt story about love, family and, of course, chickens. Eleven-year-old Don is instantly transformed from "the new kid" who nobody notices or cares about to a local celebrity when he becomes the youngest person ever to win his town's chicken judging contest. Finally, Don has friends who want to spend time with him and a mother who seems interested in what's going on in his life. Everything is turned upside down, however, when Don accidentally finds a birth certificate for a child with his birthday but with a different name. Who is this Stanley? And what does he have to do with Dawn, the dancing sister who has been dead for years and who no one can seem to get over? Set in Louisiana in 1980, this intriguing story of Don's breaking family and his struggle to find his place in it is all at once touching and tragic. Nothing is what it seems in this novel - except for the chickens, who despite their place in the book's title as as a moving symbol play a very minor role.

Perhaps the most remarkable thing about this book is the way that Couvillon has managed to present some very complicated and dramatic themes in the authentic voice of an 11-year-old. Often one runs the risk of making a character older than his years when writing about some of these themes, but Don's take on things is always believable for a child of his age.

I'd highly recommend this book for anyone who enjoys books about families or friendships.

[Sam · Rating 3 out of 5]

Don Schmidt has spent much of his young life trying to live up to the standards his parents set while his extremely talented deceased sister Dawn was alive. Don finds his niche in chicken judging- hardly as impressive as Dawn's dancing skills but enough to bring him some notariaty and an escape from a hostile home environment. After winning a major contest Don slowly gains the respect of his uptight mother and peers, only to stumble upon the roots of a massive family secret that seemed to be tearing his parents apart.

This is a very lukewarm book. The plot is pretty simple and in the end very predictable, but the characters are very well developed. In fact, the author puts so much into developing them (especially Don and his mother) that it seems like the plot itself is rushed. Despite being predictable, I did enjoy the book moderately and was somewhat excited towards the end as the plot really got rolling. Unfortunately, it does not feel fully resolved at the conclusion.

The quote from Jack Gantos on the cover compares Don to Napoleon Dynamite, and this is quite accurate. Sadly, I don't think that this sort of awkward character appeal transfers as well into print as it did on the big screen, as I can't see many teen readers readily identifying with the protagonist.

My bottom line: this is more appealing to adults with patience enough to get into the storyline than YA readers.

[Jordan Capener · Rating 5 out of 5]

the chicken dance by jacques convillon,the character name don that which is a boy and he used to live in the big city but his father job moved him to a farm in nowhere so it begins with chickens that his uncle left behind so they can take care of them but his mom doesn't chickens and that were the comedy begins it gets really funny but one day his mother hated feeding the chickens so he decides to ask his mother if he can feed the chickens because he loves the chickens so much that he would want to be a farmer for his rest of his life will the mother said yes or no you will have to read it but there is some romantic stuff in there but as everybody knows that boys don't like romance and they will never will any was back to the book the author did slow down on some parts but i made it through and there is no horror no what so ever but i can never understand of people liking horror books or watching movies of them i won't like to have nightmares for a month but any was the book was good and there was some exciting moments parts of the book and there are some confusing parts of the book but any was i thought it was a great book so far and i would like people to read it.

[Lavender911 · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Chicken Dance is a book about a ingnored boy named Don who lives on a chicken farm on Hose Island, his love of chickens,his crazy parents, and his dead sister Dawn. One day, Don heard his parents yelling at each other because his mom has to watch the chickens. Since Don loved chickens, he told his mom that he would watch the chickens. He learned so much about chickens that when he entered a chicken-judging competition, he won! This competition leads to a giant chain of events, which leads him to disovering family secrets he never dreamed of.

This book was a great book because it lead you one way, then twisted it completely. You thought this book was a humor book, just for fun, but half way through, it became a mystery. Then the mystery turned and twisted,then twisted again. It wasn't detailed, but it gave a you enough information with soling the mystery ahead of time. Don is humerous character that you will grow to love and sypathize.

[Erin Yane · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an audio book that was supposed to keep my 7 and 8 yr old kids entertained in the car. There were many hints that it was not appropriate for them early on, but I ignored them bc I found the book so interesting myself. Eventually I did give them something else to listen to and finished it on my own. The book was a really strange combination of well-written and completely non-formulaic for a tween novel, and then a little odd in a not good way. I agree with another reviewer who thought that Don as well as his parents are a bit pathologic in their behavior -- enough so that it would be nice to have a diagnosis or for the author to at least show awareness of how "off" and abusive the behavior is (of the parents, not Don). The character of Don is so sweetly written, and that's what really strung me along -- to see what happened to him. Not that I found out, bc the ending is very inconclusive. I'd recommend it for tween audiences, but not for adults or younger kids.

[babyhippoface · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think I'm in the minority here, but this book bothered me. It was just so sad. I kept waiting for good things to happen to this boy, but even when they did, the depressing in his life took over and just overshadowed everything.

Don had a highly-developed fantasy life because his social skills were stunted by neglect and indifference. Even though he remained hopeful and caring, as evidenced by the selfless choice he made in the end, I couldn't help but think about how he would probably pay dearly for that choice for the rest of his life.

Maybe I took the book way too seriously. Played as a black comedy, this could probably be funny (along the lines of Napoleon Dynamite or Married with Children, if you think those are funny). Played seriously, as I read it, it was just too depressing.

[Jorge · Rating 3 out of 5]

Eleven-year-old Don Schmidt leads a lonely and solitary life. Trained early for complete submission by his aloof parents, Don never speaks unless spoken to. That includes everyone, even other children. Any attention he receives is limited to screeching criticism from his mother and harsh teasing from the kids at school, especially popular Leon. His father goes to work and then comes home to stare at the TV, basically ignoring him. There is one exception to Don’s lonely world --- the chickens.
because of the death in the family they have to maintain at least 25 chickens and don enjoys this because they are the only ones that listens to him. he decides to enter a chicken competition and he wins by a mile and that brings him closer to every one in the town. it is a good book with a good ending.