Linda Soules Releases 'So You Want To Be A Police Officer,' a Career Guide for Readers Ages 10 to 14

Author Linda Soules has released So You Want To Be A Police Officer: A Kids' Guide to Police Work, Law Enforcement, and the Real Heroes Who Protect Our Communities, a 38-page children's nonfiction book for readers ages 10 to 14. The title is available at https://www.amazon.com/dp/1972766171 (ISBN 978-1-972766-17-0). It follows a career in law enforcement from the first weeks of academy training through patrol, criminal investigation and community policing. It is the latest entry in Soules's So You Want To Be A... series, which profiles real careers for young readers. The book has already won a Gold Medal in the Children - Social Issues category of the 2026 Readers' Favorite International Book Awards.

Children usually meet police officers through television, film and the news, and those sources tend to compress the job into a few dramatic moments. Most of the work is slower and more demanding than that: studying law and psychology, writing reports, coordinating with colleagues, and making judgment calls under pressure. Middle-grade readers are at an age when they begin to ask what adults actually do all day and which careers might suit them. Yet few nonfiction titles aimed at this group treat public safety work in detail. Soules's book is written for that audience. It assumes readers can handle accurate information about training standards, emotional strain and the responsibilities that come with the uniform, and it presents those topics in plain language.

The book is organized around the path a recruit takes. It opens with academy training, including the physical fitness standards candidates must meet and the study of law and psychology that officers carry into the field. From there it moves to daily patrol work, explaining how officers respond to calls and why routine tasks matter. One example in the book is that writing a traffic ticket requires the same attention to detail as responding to a major emergency, because every action in law enforcement can carry consequences. Readers also learn how officers use de-escalation techniques to resolve tense situations without force, a skill the book presents as central to modern policing rather than as an afterthought.

A second thread follows investigations and teamwork. The book explains how officers develop the skills needed to collect evidence and build a case, and how they work alongside detectives, dispatchers and community liaisons. That coordination, the book argues, is what protects neighborhoods and builds public trust. It also addresses the less visible parts of the job, including the emotional demands of long shifts and the discipline of staying calm when a situation is deteriorating. It does not describe the work as glamorous. Instead it lays out what the job costs, what it gives back, and why many officers say that helping someone on the worst day of their life is unlike any other work. Detailed illustrations appear on every page.

The book sits in a crowded category of children's career books, and it differs in tone and scope. Rather than limiting itself to a list of duties or a gallery of uniforms and equipment, it covers training, ethics, teamwork and personal cost in one short volume. Its stated approach is to trust the reader. Soules's series philosophy is that young readers are smarter, more curious and more capable than publishing often assumes, and that books written for them should not talk down. For police work, a subject that can be emotionally charged, that approach means describing the job candidly, including its difficulty, instead of offering either a promotional portrait or a cautionary one.

"Kids can handle real information. This book shows what police work asks of a person and gives back, without talking down to the reader," said Linda Soules, author and creator of the So You Want To Be A... series.

The book is aimed first at readers ages 10 to 14 who are curious about public safety careers, including those who already imagine themselves in law enforcement. It also suits students who simply want to understand the people who work in their communities. Parents and caregivers can use it as a starting point for conversations about community safety, the role of laws, and how trust between residents and officers is built. Teachers and librarians may find it useful for career-exploration units, social studies lessons on civic institutions, or nonfiction reading lists. Because the book covers fitness standards, academy study and investigative work, it can also help a young reader judge which parts of the profession appeal to them and which do not.

Recognition for the book and its series spans several programs. In addition to the Readers' Favorite gold medal, the book's listing cites a Mom's Choice Awards Gold honor and a Literary Titan Gold Book Award. The listing also identifies the title as part of an award-winning series that has received a Grand Prize in the 2026 Purple Dragonfly Book Awards and a Silver Award in Children's Nonfiction in the 2026 CIPA EVVY Book Awards. Readers' Favorite placed the book in its Children - Social Issues category, which reflects the book's attention to community, responsibility and public service rather than to the mechanics of the job alone.

So You Want To Be A Police Officer is available now through Amazon at https://www.amazon.com/dp/1972766171, where current format options and pricing are listed. The book runs 38 pages and carries the ISBN 978-1-972766-17-0. Readers can find it by searching the title or the author's name, or by visiting the product page directly. Because the book is part of a larger series, the same listing page gives access to other titles in the So You Want To Be A... collection, which allows families, teachers and librarians to build a set of career-exploration books around a single reader's interests.

The police officer title belongs to a series that Soules plans to extend well beyond its current size. The So You Want To Be A... collection is envisioned to span more than 180 titles, with more than 60 published to date and new releases arriving on a steady cadence. Existing subjects range from astronauts and marine biologists to magicians, stunt performers and roller coaster designers. Each book is written to show a real career as it is: its rewards, its challenges and the path to getting there. Placing a law enforcement title alongside such varied subjects reflects the series' aim of showing readers a wide range of possible futures, from the scientific to the creative to the civic.

Linda Soules is the author and creator of the So You Want To Be A... series, a collection of career-exploration books for readers ages 10 to 14 and older. Before turning to children's publishing, she spent 25 years in law and finance, advising hedge funds and sophisticated financial institutions on legal and regulatory matters. That work, she says, taught her precision and discipline, and how to explain complex subjects in language anyone can use. Her guiding principle is never to talk down to young readers. So You Want To Be A Police Officer is available at https://www.amazon.com/dp/1972766171.