QUEEN SOPHIE HARTLEY

Sophie’s little heart is breaking, but in a funny way. She feels fat, clumsy and useless, so she’s developing two lists, her strengths (crying and stopping crying) and her weaknesses (horseback riding, ballet, sitting still), and her family is helping. Her older, prima donna sister, who is graceful, elegant and fabulous, says Sophie is good at whining and crying, and her Mom says she is good at being kind. Is a talent something that’s easy to do? No, Sophie discovers as she learns that it’s hard work to be nice to her angry, elderly wheelchair-bound neighbor and to her friendless, snotty know-it-all classmate. This humorous voyage to self-discovery insightfully pinpoints the importance of self-knowledge, hard work and focus. Greene’s simple plot, droll dialogue and strong characters intimately bring the reader into Sophie’s world—one that feels wonderfully like Ramona Quimby’s. The reader will understand on multiple levels why it’s important to Sophie to learn how to curtsy and wear a tiara, and they’ll smile slyly as Sophie applies her learned wisdom inwardly and outwardly, never a prima donna, but ultimately in charge of heart and soul—definitely the queen. (Fiction. 8-11)