all.
Her height was average. Her weight was average. Even her hair was average. It wasn’t straight. And it wasn’t curly. It wasn’t long. And it wasn’t short. It wasn’t blond. And it wasn’t brown.
No matter how you sliced it, Sophie came out somewhere in the middle. Alphabetically by first name. Alphabetically by last name. By birthday. By shoe size. In every running race, or reading group, or spelling bee. Medium. Boring.
For a few years, Sophie had been the youngest in her family. But since her two-year-old brother, Max, had been born, she’d been in the middle there, too.
She even lived in a town called Ordinary, Virginia! Ugh.
But Sophie tried to erase all that from her mind as Ms. Moffly stood and addressed the room.
“I’m afraid that I didn’t get to finish reading your journals this weekend,” Ms. Moffly explained.
There was an “
Ooh!
” and a “
Ms. Moffly’s in trouble!”
from Archie and Toby’s corner of the room.
Sophie rolled her eyes.
“That’s enough,” the teacher said, smiling. “And, boys, please sit down. Now, as you all know, my sister got married and, well, there just wasn’t enough time. So,” Ms. Moffly went on, “I don’t have the journals ready to give back to you. That means that for the next fifteen minutes, you are free to read your new library books, or start your math homework, or
quietly
play a board game.”
The whole class cheered. Sophie, too. She knew exactly what she was going to do!
Kate pulled out her book,
101 Knock-Knock Jokes.
Grace and Sydney left their desks to play Mastermind on the floor. And Sophie got up to find a sheet of paper and the sharpest pencil in the pencil jar. Then she sat back down and practiced writing her new name.
Sophie the Awesome needed an awesome signature, after all!
Sophie the Awesome
Sophie the Awesome!
The Awesome Sophie!
Sophie studied the page. She always did like a good exclamation point!
Then she felt Kate tug on her shirtsleeve.
“Knock-knock,” said Kate.
Sophie sighed. She was eager to get on to other Sophie the Awesome business. Like relabeling all her folders. But she guessed she had time for one joke.
“Who’s there?” she asked.
“Cows go,” said Kate.
“Cows go who?” said Sophie.
“No, cows go
moo
!” Kate doubled over, laughing.
“Good one,” said Sophie, trying to sound official. “It has the approval of Sophie the Awesome.”
Kate’s eyes got wide. “Is that your ‘the’ name? Really?” she asked.
“Really!” said Sophie.
“Oh.” Kate twisted her mouth to the side. Sophie knew that this meant she was thinking hard. “Are you sure?” Kate said after a minute.
“Sure I’m sure,” said Sophie.
“But what’s so awesome about you?” asked Kate.
Sophie stared at her. She was shocked! Appalled! “What do you mean?” she said. “I thought you were my best friend, Kate!”
“I
am
!” Kate told her. She laid her arm across Sophie’s shoulders. “And you are for sure the most awesome best friend in the whole world. Except when you make me listen to you sing.”
Kate giggled, but stopped when she saw that Sophie wasn’t smiling.
“You could definitely call yourself Sophie the Awesome
Friend,
if you wanted,” Kate added quickly.
Sophie thought about it for a second. “No.” She shook her head. “I think just ‘Sophie the Awesome’ is better.”
But Kate looked doubtful. “I don’t know.” She shrugged. “It’s just, when you say that someone is plain awesome, you expect them to really be awesome … in every way.”
Sophie shrugged. “Maybe I
am
awesome in every way,” she said. She turned to the back of the room and pointed to Toby and Archie. They were bombing chessmen with dice and colored dominos. “I know I am, compared to them!”
Then Sophie reached for her library book. “And how about
this
?” she said. “I can draw awesome animals. Check it out!”
She opened the book to a page about horses and drew carefully, step by
Her height was average. Her weight was average. Even her hair was average. It wasn’t straight. And it wasn’t curly. It wasn’t long. And it wasn’t short. It wasn’t blond. And it wasn’t brown.
No matter how you sliced it, Sophie came out somewhere in the middle. Alphabetically by first name. Alphabetically by last name. By birthday. By shoe size. In every running race, or reading group, or spelling bee. Medium. Boring.
For a few years, Sophie had been the youngest in her family. But since her two-year-old brother, Max, had been born, she’d been in the middle there, too.
She even lived in a town called Ordinary, Virginia! Ugh.
But Sophie tried to erase all that from her mind as Ms. Moffly stood and addressed the room.
“I’m afraid that I didn’t get to finish reading your journals this weekend,” Ms. Moffly explained.
There was an “
Ooh!
” and a “
Ms. Moffly’s in trouble!”
from Archie and Toby’s corner of the room.
Sophie rolled her eyes.
“That’s enough,” the teacher said, smiling. “And, boys, please sit down. Now, as you all know, my sister got married and, well, there just wasn’t enough time. So,” Ms. Moffly went on, “I don’t have the journals ready to give back to you. That means that for the next fifteen minutes, you are free to read your new library books, or start your math homework, or
quietly
play a board game.”
The whole class cheered. Sophie, too. She knew exactly what she was going to do!
Kate pulled out her book,
101 Knock-Knock Jokes.
Grace and Sydney left their desks to play Mastermind on the floor. And Sophie got up to find a sheet of paper and the sharpest pencil in the pencil jar. Then she sat back down and practiced writing her new name.
Sophie the Awesome needed an awesome signature, after all!
Sophie the Awesome
Sophie the Awesome!
The Awesome Sophie!
Sophie studied the page. She always did like a good exclamation point!
Then she felt Kate tug on her shirtsleeve.
“Knock-knock,” said Kate.
Sophie sighed. She was eager to get on to other Sophie the Awesome business. Like relabeling all her folders. But she guessed she had time for one joke.
“Who’s there?” she asked.
“Cows go,” said Kate.
“Cows go who?” said Sophie.
“No, cows go
moo
!” Kate doubled over, laughing.
“Good one,” said Sophie, trying to sound official. “It has the approval of Sophie the Awesome.”
Kate’s eyes got wide. “Is that your ‘the’ name? Really?” she asked.
“Really!” said Sophie.
“Oh.” Kate twisted her mouth to the side. Sophie knew that this meant she was thinking hard. “Are you sure?” Kate said after a minute.
“Sure I’m sure,” said Sophie.
“But what’s so awesome about you?” asked Kate.
Sophie stared at her. She was shocked! Appalled! “What do you mean?” she said. “I thought you were my best friend, Kate!”
“I
am
!” Kate told her. She laid her arm across Sophie’s shoulders. “And you are for sure the most awesome best friend in the whole world. Except when you make me listen to you sing.”
Kate giggled, but stopped when she saw that Sophie wasn’t smiling.
“You could definitely call yourself Sophie the Awesome
Friend,
if you wanted,” Kate added quickly.
Sophie thought about it for a second. “No.” She shook her head. “I think just ‘Sophie the Awesome’ is better.”
But Kate looked doubtful. “I don’t know.” She shrugged. “It’s just, when you say that someone is plain awesome, you expect them to really be awesome … in every way.”
Sophie shrugged. “Maybe I
am
awesome in every way,” she said. She turned to the back of the room and pointed to Toby and Archie. They were bombing chessmen with dice and colored dominos. “I know I am, compared to them!”
Then Sophie reached for her library book. “And how about
this
?” she said. “I can draw awesome animals. Check it out!”
She opened the book to a page about horses and drew carefully, step by
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