Meet Sophie Washington

My Reflection Children’s Bookstore is pleased to introduce children in Trinidad & Tobago to the Sophie Washington Series, a book series geared toward kids ages 8 to 14.

African-American preteen Sophie Washington and her friends deal with common school issues like fighting off bullies, squabbling with siblings, managing social media and video games, getting school work done, fitting in, and puppy love…all with a fun Texas-twist!

Sophie lives in the suburbs of Houston, Texas and sees alligators on neighborhood bike rides, goes muttin’ bustin’ at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, and experiences flooding and hurricanes, which makes for all kinds of exciting adventures.

Sophie Washington is the best friend protagonist all children need in their lives. Every single thing that Sophie experiences are relatable to students aged 8 to 14. They prepare children to deal with the joys and challenges they face in their day to day lives.

All twelve books in the series are now available at The Sophie Washington Series – My Reflection Children’s Store (myreflectiontt.com)

Meet the author: Tonya Duncan Ellis

The author of this series is Tonya Duncan Ellis who has had her nose in a book since she learned to read. It’s no surprise that she’d one day become a writer. Not only is she the author of the best-selling Sophie Washington children’s book series, she is also a former journalist, and a member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) and the Authors Guild. Fluent in French, Tonya loves learning about other cultures and has traveled to 49 states and 20 countries, but her best journeys have been between the pages of a novel. She lives in Houston, Texas with her husband and three children.

#1: Queen of the Bee

Sign up for the spelling bee? No way!
If there’s one thing 10-year-old Texan Sophie Washington is good at, it’s spelling. She’s earned straight 100s on all her spelling tests to prove it. Her parents want her to compete in the Xavier Academy spelling bee, but Sophie wishes they would buzz off. That’s until her irritating classmate, Nathan Jones, challenges her. There’s no way she can let Mr. Know-It-All win. Studying is hard when you have a pesky younger brother and a busy social calendar. Can Sophie ignore the distractions and become Queen of the Bee?  

#2: The Snitch

Should Sophie Stand Up to the School Bully or Become a Snitch?

There’s nothing worse than being a tattletale…
That’s what 10-year-old Sophie Washington thinks until she runs into Lanie Mitchell, a new girl at school. Lanie pushes Sophie and her friends around at their lockers, and even takes their lunch money in this entertaining, illustrated chapter book for middle grade readers. If they tell, they are scared the other kids in their class will call them snitches and won’t be their friends. And when you’re in the fifth grade, nothing seems worse than that. Then a classmate gets seriously injured and Sophie needs to make a decision: fight back, or snitch?

#3: Things you don’t know about Sophie

Only Losers Don’t Have Cell Phones…
That’s what Sophie thinks in the beginning of this hilarious and heartwarming, illustrated chapter book about fitting in. 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. Things get more complicated when Sophie “borrows” a cell phone 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.

#4: The Gamer

Give Up Video Games for 40 Days? Oh No!
Sophie and Cole’s parents want her to give up tattling and him to give up playing his video games for 40 days before Easter. The kids agree, or so their parents think…Soon after Lent begins, Cole starts sneaking to play his video games. Things get out of control and he comes to his sister for help. Should Sophie break her promise and tell on him