The Questioneers: Sofia Valdez and the Vanishing Vote

Sofia and her friends in Miss Greer’s class are super excited when she tells them they’re going to get a class pet, but how will they decide what to get? Miss Greer suggests an election-style process and so all the kids choose an animal to put forward as a candidate, and Sofia is made the election commissioner: it’s her job to make sure that voting is fair. Yet when her cousin Marisella suggests that Sofia takes her pet bird to be the class pet, it puts Sofia in a conflict of interest. How can she help Marisella and keep the vote fair? And what will she do hen one vote goes missing?

The fourth of the longer, novel-style adventures based in the world of the Questioneers (Ada Twist, Scientist and Iggy Peck, Architect also feature) sees Sofia and her friends learning all about how an election works as well as the relevance of community organising. The book does have a generally American theme and relates to American politics (for instance, explaining the requirements for an American president) but is still interesting and fun for UK readers. It’s an attractively presented book, with David Roberts’ lovely illustrations throughout and nice clear text in a larger than usual font which means it’s a quick read, perfect for 7-8 year olds.