Tic-Tac-Toe Chicken

Drawing on a longtime Chinatown tourist attraction, this animal liberation tale from debut author Tso and Chin (Bodega Cat) offers an encouraging example of a resourceful young activist outwitting the opposition. Whenever young Beatrice, whose East Asian–cued family raises chickens in their Upstate New York backyard, visits her New York City cousins, she checks in on Lillie, a caged chicken who plays tic-tac-toe in a Chinatown video-game arcade. Worried about Lillie’s wellbeing, she asks questions of her cousins and the establishment’s Big Boss: “Does Lillie ever go outside? ...Does she ever see other chickens?” After Beatrice learns that Lillie is trained to follow a computer’s instructions, she wonders if she might be able to beat it, ties twice, and persuades the arcade’s Big Boss to play her—with Lillie’s freedom on the line. Unadorned language speaks frankly (“New York City is not a great place for a chicken”), while retro visuals depict an earlier decade’s Chinatown, replete with boxy automobiles and a phone booth. Background characters are portrayed with various skin tones. An author’s note concludes. Ages 4–8. Author’s agent: Savannah Brooks, KT Literary. Illustrator’s agent: Michael Thibeault, Art Rep NYC. (Aug.)