Tonya Duncan Ellis

I would definitely put this at lower middle grade (years 8-10).

When Sophie and her best friend spend a day at the beach (with her annoying little brother), they find something they never expected -a treasure map! While on their search for the clues, they learn about a number of things, including sea turtles and World War II. With a little help from their Granny, they find the treasure and learn a number of life lessons along the way.

What I liked: great characters! Each character is unique and believable. Loved the valuable lessons about friendship and honesty. I was also very curious throughout the book about what the treasure would be.

What I didn’t like: the book moved a bit slow, especially the beginning. But it had such a cute story that I wanted to keep reading.

Overall, a cute read.

4 out of 5 stars… (mer)

Author Tonya Duncan Ellis has hit a slam-dunk with this series. I grew up reading Enid Blyton books which are delightful and well written, however, was there was no cultural representation for me, which I was to innocent at the time to realize as an issue.

With this series, Tonya brings to life a main character with which I can identify. I love words, spelling them, rhyming them, reading them but I had to be "coaxed" at times.

What I loved the most was Sophie's compassion. Almost threw in a spoiler, but you will have to read the series yourself to find out.

After reading book one, I have to read all the others before I get to the Lemonade Stand which is the most recent. (Not that this is necessary, it's just a quirk of mine)

The series caters to readers aged 8 - 12 and book one, this one, is currently free.

[ai:Tonya Duncan Ellis|4730542|Tonya Duncan Ellis|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1631315197p2/4730542.jpg]… (mer)

Ten-year-old Sophie's life in Houston is full of adventures, such as encountering wild hogs in her yard and watching Mutton Bustin' at the Houston Rodeo, and she already has plenty of schoolwork. So she has no interest in the school spelling bee—until her classmate, Know-It-All Nathan, claims he'll win the competition in Sophie Washington: Queen of the Bee by author Tonya Duncan Ellis.

This middle grade series has been on my radar for some time, largely because of the wonderful illustrations of Sophie and her peers on the book covers. This easy read packs in a good bundle of events, some true-to-life issues, as well as humor that got a few chuckles out of me.

And, of course, the story does not neglect to mention the inspiring family flick Akeelah and the Bee!

However, technical polish is especially important in children's books, where the target audience is still getting a grasp on proper grammar and punctuation. This book has a moderate number of errors, including where the dialogue is concerned. (Characters don't "smile" or "nod" spoken words, and the vocative case requires commas to offset the person or thing being directly addressed.) Also, while this story is narrated in present tense, the narration slips into past tense at times when it shouldn't, such as he/she "said" instead of "says."

Even so, I appreciate the diversity and positive moments, and I'm interested in what Sophie's ongoing story may have in store. I plan to check out at least a couple more books in the series.… (mer)

Even though it states this book is a verified purchased, it’s actually the KINDLE I’d won recently through a giveaway the author had on GoodReads and the following is my honest opinion.

It’s interesting that I won and reading this book as we enter the Lenten season, a time where we must keep our promise as to what we’re willing to sacrifice not doing for a period of 40 days in remembrance of the ultimate sacrifice he made for us on the cross.

Since Sophie and her younger brother Cole are too really young to decide for themselves as to what an appropriate sacrifice would be for them, their parents select one for each of them. For Cole it would be his love for playing video games for hours on end, and for Sophie it would be to stop her perpetual passion of tattling on people [especially, her brother].

As adults we know there’s always a consequence when we do something we shouldn’t be doing. But as a child it’s a lesson which must be learned. This proves to be the situation rather quickly when Cole’s weakness for playing his video games causes him to lose the electronic tablet containing games he’d taken from his school sans his parent’s knowledge or permission.

Cole’s action causes Sophie to wind up with a quandary. She knows she has to help her brothers with the fix he’s gotten himself in with the loss of the purloined tablet he took from school. She also knows she should tell their parents about it; but if she does, she’ll wind up breaking the Lenten promised she made of not tattling on someone else. What does Sophie do to wind up in the good graces of everyone concerned.

For giving her young readers [and some of their parents] a written, inspirational story for this time of year, I’m happy to give the author, Ms. Ellis, 5 STARS.… (mer)