Publisher's Synopsis
Anna's friends prove that love never fails when they discover that Sophie, Joshua's younger sister and second grader, has been abused in a really bad way. Their School principal, Mrs. Johnson, brings a fun program called, Blue Ribbon Week, to the school to educate her students from first through sixth grade. The students learn how to guard themselves against people who act like they are nice, but are really up to no good. They learn that even though bad things happen, God's love can make it better. Yvonne William has been involved in the anti-human trafficking movement since 2004 and is considered one of the fore-runners of this issue in the United States. With the average age of victimization being 12-14, she felt it was imperative that a book be written for children at a level where they can understand the issues. "Children want to know more about this issue than adults want to tell them. We have to trust that they have the capacity to understand today's world and the issues they and their friends are confronted with," says Williams. Sophie Has a Secret is a book written for children at the fourth grade level, or ages 9-10. After the premier in Asheville, NC of the PG-13 feature film, A Dance for Bethany, about sex trafficking in the United States, a nine-year old girl came up to Yvonne (screenwriter of the film) and pulled on her shirt. She said, "Miss Yvonne, I loved it. I'm going to be bring all my friends to see A Dance for Bethany. We need to know about this." Yvonne had no idea that the little girl had come to the premier with her mother. Another child came to tell her something else encouraging that day. "Watching A Dance for Bethany made me think about making better choices." This was an 11-year old boy. Due to similar response from children who watched the film, and working as an advocate for children for 12 years, Williams was inspired to write, Sophie Has a Secret. Here's one parent's comment after reading, Sophie Has a Secret: "I literary read this entire book in one sitting. I absolutely loved it! Sophie Has a Secret is very well written and easy to understand for the targeted age group. It is not only fun to read but engages the reader in every page and brings them into the mind of Anna and her life. Sophie Has a Secret brought tears to my eyes as well as giggles. Child abuse and human trafficking are incredibly important topics that we should be teaching our children outside of their home as depicted in this incredible children's book. I am a mother of 4 children and will be certainly be adding Sophie Has a Secret to our reading resources." Paola Garcia, founder of Faces of Child Abuse.
