For Black History Month 2020, I wanted to showcase some amazing books that have been read, reread, forgotten, discovered, and reread yet again. I will be publishing each book on every Tuesday and Thursday throughout February. These are books for every level ; some for a ride in the stroller while others are longer, young adult books. Regardless of the anyones age, these are books that have a positive, progressive social message, or strong minority and/or female characters. They promote understanding of difference, diversity, and inclusion. By being exposed to diverse characters and stories- we teach our children, and ourselves, empathy, respect for others, and visibility to the many other cultures besides our own.
Sophia Washington: Mismatched is the first book I have read in the Sophie Washington series. This is the ninth book where our hero, Sophia Washington, finds herself on the tennis team, matched up with a partner that she does not know. This was my first time reading a book that is geared more towards the middle school kids, which my son is on the cusp of becoming, and less about hardcover children’s books that would be read by the parent.
I was expecting the story to be geared towards 8-12 year old’s- so I was pleasantly surprised at how engaging the plot was. Sophia is a normal young girl growing up in Texas going through all the same feelings and struggles that I went through. We all want to fit in and make friends. It was an interesting story that is all based around her experiences with her new partner on the tennis team. She learns about acceptance, health, and being a good friend. All topics that didn’t seem forced upon the reader; it was more of a well developed character with problems that needed to be solved.
Tonya Duncan Ellis has had her nose in a book since she learned to read, so it’s no surprise that she’d one day become a writer. She is author of the Amazon best selling Sophie Washington children’s book series, a former journalist, and a member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI). Fluent in French, Tonya loves learning about other cultures and has traveled to 49 states and 20 countries. She lives in Houston, Texas with her husband and three children.
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