Thursday, March 15, 2018

Review of Sophie Washington: Things You Didn't Know About Sophie by Tonya Duncan Ellis with Giveaway



Welcome to the review tour for Sophie Washington: Things You Didn't Know About Sophie by Tonya Duncan Ellis, hosted by Goddess Fish Promotions. This is my third book in the series and it is another winner! Read my full review below as well as an excerpt from the book. Be sure to leave Tonya a question or a comment! And then follow the tour so that you have more chances to try to win the $25 Amazon or Barnes and Noble gift card giveaway. Best of luck entering and thanks for stopping by!



Things You Didn't Know About Sophie


Oh, the tangled web we weave…

Sixth grader Sophie Washington thought she had life figured out when she was younger, but this school year, everything has changed. She feels like an outsider, because she’s the only one in her class without a cell phone, and her crush, new kid Toby Johnson, has been calling her best friend, Chloe. To fit in, Sophie changes who she is. Her plan to become popular works for a while, and she and Toby start to become friends.

In between the boy drama, Sophie takes a whirlwind class field trip to Austin, TX, where she visits the state museum, eats Tex-Mex food, and rides a kayak. Back at home, Sophie fights off buzzards from her family’s roof, dissects frogs in science class, and has fun at her little brother Cole’s basketball tournament.

Things get more complicated when Sophie “borrows” a cell phone from a neighbor and gets caught. If her parents make her tell the truth, what will her friends think? Turns out Toby has also been hiding something, and Sophie discovers the best way to make true friends is to be yourself.




Read an excerpt:
He loves me. He loves me not. 
I shrug my shoulders and tug the last petal off the cream-colored daisy, watching it drift to the floor. Then I scoot the mess under my bed with my feet. I have been playing this game every morning for the past week and come out losing more often than not. 
“It’s no use,” I moan. “Toby will never like me!” Toby Johnson joined our sixth-grade class this past fall, and it’s as if I’m seeing things through 3D glasses. Mom hardly has to call me to come down for school in the morning, because I can’t wait to get there. Our boring Texas history class is exciting now that Toby sits in the seat in front of me. Even P.E., which I’ve always hated, is fun, because Toby is in the class. He tells funny jokes, is good in sports, and talks to everyone, even the shy and quiet kids. 
Toby is a good student, so the teachers like him, too. And, he has all kinds of neat stories to tell about his old school in Cleveland, Ohio, where his family moved from. Toby says that in Cleveland they have enough snow every winter to make snowmen as tall as he is. I’ve never seen snow, except once when we drove through some flurries on a road trip to New Mexico. 
Things have been great since Toby got here, except he doesn’t know I like him, and probably doesn’t care. He’s too busy making Goo Goo eyes at my best friend Chloe, the prettiest girl in the class. Not that I’m bad looking or anything, but next to her, I’m not so much. She’s tall and has long, black, curly hair, and wears cute red bows and bracelets that make her look like a movie star, even in our school uniform. I, on the other hand, wear ponytails and need glasses to see the board.

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**My thoughts**
Yet another excellent read in the Sophie Washington series. In this one, Sophie is trying to navigate those initial boy-girl feelings and relationships, especially as she isn't quite as comfortable in her own skin with her glasses and more casual look. She is trying to figure out how to fit in with her friends, even when her parents don't let her have the the things they have. She is trying to figure out how to prove she can be responsible, which isn't the easiest thing to do when you're at this preteen age. Sixth grade is a time of huge growth and confusion and again, Ellis has captured it in this book. I completely flashed back to my 6th grade year.

The growth happens. Responsibility happens. Lessons are learned. Sophie is real and not Little Miss Perfection, which makes her an even better role model. I think kids can learn a lot about life and have some great conversations about how they would handle the various situations. They've probably already witnessed some of these experiences in their own lives. If I were still teaching, I would be reading these to my students.

I've read three of these books so far and really need to get to the other ones soon!




About Tonya Duncan Ellis

Tonya Ellis loves reading so much that as a child she took books with her everywhere rather than put them down. She knew she wanted to become a writer after an article she wrote was published in her hometown newspaper when she was fourteen years old. Since then, Tonya has worked as a journalist, written for newspapers and magazines and won awards for her books. She is the mom of three spelling bee champions, and has judged several spelling bee events. SOPHIE WASHINGTON: QUEEN OF THE BEE is her debut novel in a series about Sophie and her friends. Currently, Ms. Ellis lives in Missouri City, Texas with her husband, daughter, and two sons.

Website: www.tonyaellisbooks.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tonyaellisbooks/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/TonyaDEllis



Tonya Duncan Ellis will be awarding a $25 Amazon or Barnes and Noble GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.


a Rafflecopter giveaway

13 comments:

  1. I enjoyed getting to know your book; congrats on the tour and I hope it is a fun one for you :)

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  2. Thanks Lisa. Best wishes in the giveaway!

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  3. Congrats on the tour and I love the cover.

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    1. Thanks for checking out my tour Tasha. This is one of my favorites of the book covers in my series!

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  4. Thanks for the giveaway; I like the excerpt. :)

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    1. I appreciate you taking time to read it Cali. Best wishes in the giveaway!

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  5. This sounds like such a cute story. I'm definitely adding to books for my child to read, when she gets older.

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    1. Thanks Kim! My books make good bedtime stories for mom and dad to read to the smaller ones too! 😄 That’s great you’re getting your child into reading young.

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  6. Glad to see you Nikolina. Happy you read the whole post! 😃

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