A Family by Choice — Not Blood

One of the major themes of Sophia of the Bright Red Sneakers series is the creation of her own unique family as an orphan. This would also apply to kids who have parents but still spend many hours alone. Pedro has living parents but is an only child. His parents work five and one-half days a week away from home, so he is often alone. Sophia and Pedro become de facto brother and sister, and BFF. The other chosen members of her unique family are all single adults, ranging in age from thirty to past their sixties.

Why is this? Because she has only been around older people and relates to them as an adult. They are whom she has something in common with her. They value who she is and do not bully or embarrass her. But more than that, unusual adults are just a lot more interesting than kids her age, particularly when she is ten years old in an eighth-grade honors class. She is a grown-up, and they are bratty kids.

But here’s the rub—she’s still a kid, although she doesn’t know it.

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