Sophie the Daredevil

Sophie #6

by Lara Bergen, Laura Tallardy (Illustrator)

Sophie's braving her best title yet . . . but can she live up to it? Sophie is braving her best name yet! None of Sophie's oh-so-perfect names have stuck yet. But this time is different. Sophie isn't going to worry about whether or not she can live up to her new name. Because this time, she's fearless. She's Sophie the Daredevil! But it's not always easy to face your fears. Sophie is about to learn that lesson the hard way!

Genres: Realistic Fiction, Fiction, Chapter Books

83 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 1, 2011

Reviews

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I get it... cute read for younger strong readers. Fits well in that gap, since it's totally appropriate and stars a young girl (not a middle schooler). Earthshattering? No. Likeable and safe? Yes. And some days that's what we need.

[Sean Harding · Rating 2 out of 5]

The title character is annoying, the other characters are annoying, the plot is annoying.
The whole book is annoying - there is a good section on confession, and redemption and forgiveness, but you have to dig through all the other dross to find it.

[Ariel · Rating 5 out of 5]

If we can get it that will be awesome

[Katie Fitzgerald · Rating 5 out of 5]

This chapter book series by Lara Bergen is about third grader Sophie Miller, who, back in the first book, Sophie the Awesome, decides that she is boring and needs to make a name for herself. In books two through five, Sophie tried on identities - Sophie the Hero, Sophie the Chatterbox, Sophie the Zillionaire, and Sophie the Snoop. In this, the sixth book, she has become Sophie the Daredevil. Her daredevil motto is "There's not a dare that I won't do," and she takes it very seriously. In the cafeteria, she eats the most disgusting concoctions her classmates can dream up. She bravely sneaks into the boy's bathroom, even when she runs into an actual boy on the way in. She even tries diving off the high dive at her friend Mia's pool party. Sophie feels pretty good about her daring deeds, but not everyone feels the same way. Kate, her levelheaded best friend, second guesses some of Sophie's ideas, and Mindy, a snobby girl in the class, raises the stakes just a bit too high, giving Sophie a dare that will actually hurt someone's feelings. When Sophie accepts it, she must also accept the negative consequences that come along with it.

Though there is obviously a formula to this series, it works really well and offers a lot of possibilities. Sophie's search for a comfortable identity is a struggle all of us - children and adults - can relate to and appreciate. And her need to impress her peers and to maintain her daredevil identity also rang really true for me. I also really loved the interplay between and among Sophie's classmates. Bergen has perfectly captured the way boys and girls relate to one another in third grade, and she also has a real feel for what kinds of dares would be popular among kids of that age group. The taboo of going into the opposite sex's bathroom was an especially great detail to explore, and definitely the kind of mystery kids love to speculate about.

This book is funny, fast-paced, contemporary, and true to life. Readers will enjoy living vicariously through Sophie's outlandish and daring behavior, and they'll also take away an important lesson about doing the right thing, even when it's hard, and making amends for big mistakes, even when it means having to humble yourself and apologize to the people you've hurt.

[Julesmarie · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75 stars

There's a very fine line between being preachy and being touching when attempting to teach life lessons through children's books. This one managed to fall just on the touching side. I appreciate that Sophie herself was the one learning the lesson, as it made the emotions much more authentic. I also appreciated that there wasn't a big discussion between Sophie and one of the adults in her life to help the lesson sink in.

I also think it's interesting that the stealing only happened as a result of a dare. I've had to deal with students taking things that don't belong to them, and have had various and interesting reasons given for the taking. I think that this was a nice, neutral way to get Sophie into the situation that she then had to figure out how to get herself out of. Nicely done.

[Reesa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sophie thinks her name is boring on its own, so she's trying to earn an exciting name for herself. She wants to be known as Sophie the Daredevil, the daringest girl of them all - so daring, in fact, that she declares that she will accept any dare that people challenge her with. She imagines all sorts of exciting dares will come her way and anticipates with great joy that happy tingly feeling she gets in her belly when faced with that kind of challenge, but it turns out mostly her friends want her to do gross stuff like lick or eat things that look absolutely disgusting. Then one of her classmates dares her to do something Sophie knows is wrong. Is it worth the awesome name to go through with the dare?

I received my copy of this book for free through the First Reads program.

[Kathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great elementary book. Sophie is a typical third grader who decides she must have a title added to her name or she isn't very important. In this book, she asks her friends to challenge her with dares. While most of the dares are silly and harmless, one forces her to acknowledge that not all dares should be taken. The lesson learned shows the reader that you must make decisions based on your own values. It is important that young readers are given solutions and this book demonstrates that communication is important when dealing with a problem.

[Julie Barrett · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sophie the Daredevil by Laura Bergen
Audio children's book about Sophia who has tried to live up to her name. She needs a lot of courage
and she's sure she's found it as a daredevil is not afraid of anything. Jack offers her a drink that doesn't look so good and she accepts the dare.
Books follows other dares that kids give her.
Other books in the Sophie series are highlighted.
I received this book from National Library Service for my BARD (Braille Audio Reading Device).

[Ice 9 · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is kind of a book for girls so why did I read it? Because I found a copy and I read everything. Anyway, this book has strong lessons about not putting yourself in dumb situations and finding who your are. Sophie is both an example and warning to children.

[Beth]

MY DAUGHTER LOVES THESE BOOKS!!! I SO HOPE I WIN !!! :) great birthday present for her!

[Sophie Swanson · Rating 5 out of 5]

this author picks out the best names!!!

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good for 4th grade low readers.