The Hundred Dresses
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The Hundred Dresses
Author: Eleanor Este
Illustrator: Louis Slobodkin
Awards: Newbery Honor
Level:
GRL: P
DRA: 38
Lexile: 870 L
AR Level: 5.4
AR Points: 1.0
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Heads Up:
Teasing about being poor
Wanda has a hard time reading and a girl asks, “Is she dumb or what?”
Sass/Crass:
Language: “dumb”
Sass Scale: 1
Synopsis:
Wanda Petronski has a hundred dresses at home in her closet. At least that is what she tells all of the girls at school. No one believes her of course, because she wears the same blue dress everyday and it doesn’t fit quite right. Wanda lives on the poor side of town with her Polish father and brother, and after mentioning having 100 dresses the other girls will not let it go!
The day Wanda wins Room' 13’s drawing contest with 100 beautiful drawings of dresses is the day everyone realizes Wanda hasn’t been at school. After being made fun of for their different name and accents, the Petroniski family moves to a big city where they don’t feel so different. A couple of girls feel terrible for participating in the teasing and promise to never take part in bringing such unhappiness to anyone again. Will they ever be able to make it up to sweet Wanda?