The Great Chicken Debacle — Phyllis Reynolds Naylor

May all your chickens come home to roost. If they had only known what trouble lay ahead, maybe, just maybe the Morgan children and their friend Deeter wouldn't have agreed to mind No-Name, the world's ugliest chicken. Maybe they could have avoided camping out with it; confronting its archenemy, the fox; grappling with its abductors. But then again, maybe the whole madhouse caper was inevitable.

Summer vacation has arrived. The kids can think of nothing but Starlight Park and its rides. The Screaming Cyclone, Red Devil, Mad Hornet. The fact that their parents won't take them poses the greatest dilemma of their young lives. That is, until Cornelia makes a deal with Dad. In return for their help in keeping Mom's one-of-a-kind birthday present hidden for a week, Dad will grant their wish. By the end of a week's chicken duty, young readers will agree. The Morgans and Deeter have earned their trip to Starlight Park!