Lara Bergen: Sophie the Zillionaire

And another 100?

Yes!

No.

It was just a 10.

Sophie looked at her lottery card again. And again. But there were no threes of anything.

Too bad. Her mom was right about the lottery. It wasn’t a very good way to make money after all, she guessed.

Then, suddenly, her mom started jumping. She hugged Sophie’s dad and waved her card.

“I won fifty dollars!” she cried.

No way! Sophie thought.

“Congratulations!” Sophie’s dad said. “What are you going to buy?”

Sophie’s mom grinned and shook her head. “Nothing! I’m going to give it to Hayley’s penny drive — just like Sophie,” she said.

Sophie felt tingly from her bangs to her toes. More people were giving. All thanks to her!

Now — back to snooping …

If she could just find another mystery to solve!

Sophie’s new name is right around the corner. Could this one be a perfect fit?

What a day! Sophie thought.

Because today was the day she was something. And that something was Sophie the Snoop.

Yes! That was who she was from now on.

More than anything, Sophie wanted to be extra-special. To be extra-great at … something. She had tried to be great at everything at first. But that was hard. So then she had tried to be great at one thing. Like being a hero. Or being honest. Or being rich. But that was hard, too.

Then, suddenly, it came to her in a great big whoosh. Sophie was great at solving mysteries. She was a natural snoop!

First she solved the Missing Horse Bank Mystery, just like that. (The thief had been her little brother, Max.)

Then she solved the Mystery of the Missing Business Cards. (Of course, that wasn’t really a mystery. Sophie had taken her dad’s cards. But he never would have found them without her. That was a fact.)

Now Sophie the Snoop could not wait to solve her next case — whatever it was!

So she was very ready when her mom called out, “It’s almost time to go to school. Hey! Who left the toilet seat up?”

Sophie tiptoed to the downstairs bathroom — the scene of the crime. (She knew that snoops tiptoed, so she had to. But she did it very fast.)

“This is a case for Sophie the Snoop, Mom!” she cried.

Sophie looked around the bathroom and found a clue almost right away. It was the mug she had painted for her dad’s birthday. She picked it up off the sink.

“Aha!” she said.

Sophie flashed her mom a smile and headed for the kitchen. Her dad was waiting by the toaster for something to pop up. Sophie tiptoed up behind him and shouted, “Gotcha!”

Her dad turned, surprised, and saw the mug. He sighed and held up his hands. “Sure enough. That’s my mug. Guilty as charged,” he told her.

Sophie smiled. She crossed her arms. “No case is too tough for Sophie the Snoop!” she declared.

Finding the right name isn’t easy!

See what else Sophie tries out….

1: SOPHIE the AWESOME

2: SOPHIE the HERO

3: SOPHIE the CHATTERBOX

4: SOPHIE the ZILLIONAIRE

5: SOPHIE the SNOOP

6: SOPHIE the DAREDEVIL

Just like Sophie, LARA BERGENwould love to find a name that describes her perfectly … but for now she’ll settle with being the author of this great series and many other books for children — and, before that, the proud editor of many more. She lives in the Big Apple, New York City, with the best husband and two children in the world.