cover image Sophie the Awesome

Sophie the Awesome

Lara Rice Bergen. Scholastic/Little Apple, 4.99 (112pp) ISBN 978-0-545-14604-3

Bergen (who has contributed to the Candy Apple series) launches a series about a tenacious third grader, Sophie, who settles on a nickname that she thinks describes her perfectly. Yet she quickly realizes that others aren’t likely to call her Sophie the Awesome, “unless she had proof of her awesomeness to back it up.” As might be expected, Sophie’s attempts at impressing her teachers and classmates don’t go well. She is chastised for making a racket on the cymbals when she tries to stand out in music class, lands on her bottom—and in the nurse’s office—after attempting to jump down six steps at once, and is reprimanded by the principal for trying to stuff a record number of fries in her mouth at lunch. Sophie’s run-ins with her nemeses—the rambunctious class cutup and an uppity know-it-all—provide snatches of humor, and she finally earns a nickname (if not the one she had envisioned) in an unexpected, action-filled ending. Tallardy’s (The Girl’s Body Book) cartoony illustrations help play up the relatable emotions at work in this straightforward tale. Ages 7–10. (May)