Sophie Washington: Things You Didn't Know About Sophie

By Tonya Duncan Ellis

A Readers' Favorite Five Star Rated Book for Kids!
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.
Here's what Goodreads reviewers say about Sophie Washington: Things You Didn't Know About Sophie:
"Sophie is a real character with flaws and it is fun reading how she matures. The story line was funny and realistic."
"Virtues like honesty, friendship and being true to yourself are always in style, and this book teaches that in a fun way. Also, it's great to learn a little bit about Texas too!"
"Very well written middle school book."
This is the third book in the Readers' Favorite five star rated Sophie Washington book series that includes:
Sophie Washington: Queen of the Bee (Book 1)
Sophie Washington: The Snitch (Book 2)
Sophie Washington: Things You Didn't Know About Sophie (Book 3)
Sophie Washington: The Gamer (Book 4)
Sophie Washington: Hurricane (Book 5)
Sophie Washington: Mission Costa Rica (Book 6)
Sophie Washington: Secret Santa (Book 7)
Kids Ages 8-12

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tonya Duncan Ellis
• Release date: Jan 14, 2019
• ISBN: 9780463472316

Tonya Duncan Ellis

Tonya Duncan Ellis is the author of the award winning, 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, Mismatch, My BFF, Class Retreat, Lemonade Day, and Treasure Beach.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 Houston, TX.

Book preview

Sophie Washington

Things You Didn’t Know About Sophie

Written by Tonya Duncan Ellis

©2017 Tonya Duncan Ellis

All Rights Reserved

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the written permission of the author.

ISBN: 978-1-4575-5709-5

This book is a work of fiction. Places, events, and situations in this book are purely fictional and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is coincidental.

Printed in the United States of America

Books By Tonya Duncan Ellis

Sophie Washington: Queen of the Bee

Sophie Washington: The Snitch

Sophie Washington: Things You Didn’t Know About Sophie

Sophie Washington: The Gamer

Sophie Washington: Hurricane

Table of Contents

Chapter 1: The Phone

Chapter 2: Dodgeball

Chapter 3: Texas History

Chapter 4: Up on the Housetop

Chapter 5: Keep Austin Weird

Chapter 6: Lady Bird Lake

Chapter 7: Food Fight

Chapter 8: Plan B

Chapter 9: Game Night

Chapter 10: The Free Throw

Chapter 11: Office Antics

Chapter 12: Back to the Drawing Board

Chapter 13: Show and Tell

Chapter 14: Group Chat

Chapter 15: The Dark Side

Chapter 16: Jake

Chapter 17: Caught

Chapter 18: Phone Home

Chapter 19: Honor Assembly

Chapter 20: True Friends

Chapter 21: Happy Birthday

About the Author

Books by Tonya Duncan Ellis

Chapter 1

The Phone

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.

No one knows how I feel about Toby. Not even Chloe. If anyone found out, I’d never come out of my room.

Sophie, time for breakfast! Mom calls.

I grab my backpack and rush out my bedroom door.

Bam! Me and my eight-year-old brother, Cole, collide.

Move back, Creep! he yells.

Look where you’re going, Blockhead, I counter.

"I was watching where I was going, he frowns. You were just running through the house again like Mom and Dad told you not to."

I love my little brother, but he can be such a pain sometimes.

Can you two please be nice to each other? pleads Mom as we enter the kitchen, still grumbling.

Cereal’s for breakfast. I’m helping in Daddy’s office this morning, so we need to leave early. Mom slides in her earrings and scrolls through her cell phone while we pour cornflakes into our bowls.

Our father is a dentist and has his own dental practice. Two or three days a week, Mom goes in to help him with accounting and checking in patients in his office in downtown Houston. Since we attend Xavier Academy, a private school that doesn’t have a school bus, she drives us to school every morning.

Mom’s been working with our father most days recently because the city had heavy rains earlier this spring. A couple of weeks ago, his office flooded. It rained for 40 days and 40 nights, like Noah’s ark. Dad had to see patients in a building across the street while repairs were being made. A lot of his medical equipment was ruined. Dad left his cell phone there and it got water damage,