First published 2004
Wanda Petronski arrives at her American school each morning wearing the same faded blue dress. Her classmates notice. They whisper. They begin to tease her about her limited wardrobe. When Wanda claims she owns one hundred dresses at home, the other children think she is lying. The teasing intensifies into a cruel game that follows her through the hallways and classroom. Wanda, an immigrant girl trying to fit in, becomes the target of relentless ridicule from students who see her difference as weakness. The daily torment builds until Wanda can no longer bear it. Her absence from school forces her tormentors to confront what they have done. The story reveals how casual cruelty can devastate a child and how understanding arrives too late for some wounds to heal.
Genres: fiction, 20th-century
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: fish-out-of-water, found-family
Setting: America
Period: 20th-century
80 pages · Paperback · Perfection Learning
Content warnings: emotional-abuse