Review of Sophie Washington: Mismatch by Tonya Duncan Ellis

Yay! It's another Sophie Washington book! Find out what I thought about the latest installment, Mismatch, and check out an excerpt from the book. Let the author know what you think in the comments! And then follow the tour to find out what others have to say about it. Plus there's a giveaway at the end!

Sophie Washington: Mismatch

Game. Set. Match.

Sophie Washington is trying out for the tennis team, and she’s excited to get a chance to play with her good friends Chloe and Mariama. That is until wacky Coach Quackenbush matches her with school misfit, Mackenzie “Big Mac” Clark, and things quickly go downhill. Sophie has nothing in common with her partner, who does odd things like run off the court in the middle of practice, and she’s disappointed when Mackenzie shows no interest in the secret handshake she made up. After getting called out by the coach, being hit on the head with a tennis ball, and jokingly called the “most valuable player,” by mean older girls on the team, when she’s clearly not, Sophie’s ready to throw in the towel. Trying to fit in with the mean girls by making fun of Mackenzie behind her back makes things worse. Mackenzie starts skipping practice, and then gets sick at school, and Sophie realizes that there’s more to her doubles partner than meets the eye. What started out as a total mismatch could be the best partnership of all.

Read an excerpt:

Mackenzie and I get whopped by Mariama and Chloe, 40-Love, which in tennis terms means 40 to zero. I wonder why the inventors of tennis named a goose egg a word of affection. It should be 40-Nada, or 40-Zilch. I feel like I’m 40-Nothing as I wave goodbye to my friends and Mackenzie, pick up my backpack and racket and trudge to the parking area to wait for Mom. So far, playing tennis is the pits. The older girls are snobby, my partner doesn’t talk to me, and now I’m becoming the team joke.

“You should have seen that ball bounce off Sophie’s head!” I hear Nathan and Toby telling Carlton and Carly Gibson on the other end of the car pool area. “She’s the team MVP!”

I turn my back and ignore them.

Thank goodness Valentina didn’t have her cell phone out or the whole school would know. She loves to take selfies and other pictures with her phone camera and post them to social media. With my luck it would have gone viral.

“How was your day, sweetie?” asks my mother after she pulls up to get me.

“Just great,” I answer.

It’s a good thing Cole isn’t in the car. The last thing I need to deal with is his teasing, or worse yet, listen to his lame jokes.

The one he had this morning was the worst.

“Where did tennis players go on their date? The Tennis Ball!”

“Where’s Cole?” I ask my mother.

“Your father picked him up early to go to a Houston Rockets basketball game downtown,” she says. “A doctor in his office building has season tickets and couldn’t make it this evening, so it’s just us girls.”

“Yay!” I cheer.

Things are looking up. I love to have girl time with my mom. She takes me out to my favorite places to eat for burgers or pizza, and sometimes we watch a movie Dad and Cole can’t stand, like the Princess Diaries. Of course, it’s too late for us to hang out as we would on a weekend afternoon, but I’ll settle for eating out. That’ll be the perfect pick-me-up after that terrible tennis practice.

But Mom deflates my hopes quicker than a popped helium balloon.

Available on Amazon

**My thoughts**

I always get excited when I see that there is another Sophie Washington book available. I haven't enjoyed a middle grade series like this in a long time!

This one kicks things off with a nod to the mean girls and how they need to just be stopped. As the story unfolds, we meet a new character, Mackenzie, who ends up getting paired up with Sophie for tennis. She seems cranky and weird and the other kids have few nice things to say about her. Sophie is usually pretty good about being kind to new people, but of course is struggling a little bit. But Mackenzie has a secret that she doesn't want the kids to know about, a secret that explains some of her weird and secretive behavior. So this story gives a good lesson in not being too quick to judge others until you know about their story.

And of course there are the usual sibling battles. It's been fun watching Sophie and Cole grow and mature over the past several books. You don't need to read the other ones before this one, but it does help. As always, I can't wait until the next book!

Click on a title to read my review!

Queen of the Bee

The Gamer

Things You Didn't Know About Sophie

Hurricane

Secret Santa

Code One

Mismatch

My BFF

Class Retreat

Lemonade Day

Treasure Beach

About Tonya Duncan Ellis

Tonya Duncan Ellis is the author of the Amazon bestselling, Readers' Favorite "Five Star" rated, Sophie Washington children's books series, geared toward readers ages 8 to 12, and is a member of the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI). She has received awards for literary excellence, worked as a journalist and freelance magazine writer, and is a graduate of Centre College of Kentucky and Washington University in St. Louis.

The Sophie Washington book series recounts the adventures of a precocious African American preteen from Houston, TX and her diverse group of friends. Each funny and heartwarming story teaches lessons about friendship, responsibility, truthfulness and perseverance. Books in the series include Queen of the Bee, The Snitch, Things You Didn't Know About Sophie, The Gamer, Hurricane, Mission: Costa Rica, Secret Santa, Code One and Mismatch.

Tonya loves to travel and has visited 49 American states and three continents, but some of her best journeys have been between the pages of a novel. As a girl she could always be found with a book in her hand, and reading is still one of her favorite hobbies. When she's not reading or writing, the author likes to ride her bike, swim, and spend time with her husband and three children. She lives in Missouri City, TX.

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www.tonyaduncanellis.com

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

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