Tomorrow Wendy: A Love Story

by Shelley Stoehr

Overview

I ve discovered that if you wear a big enough hat, no one worries much about what s going on inside your head, says Cary. And no one, not even her boyfriend, Danny, knows about the things inside Cary s head. Especially the feelings she has for Wendy, a girl with bright green hair and hard-candy sadness in her eyes.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780595269549
Publisher:	iUniverse, Incorporated
Publication date:	02/07/2003
Pages:	180
Product dimensions:	5.66(w) x 8.72(h) x 0.45(d)
Age Range:	13 - 17 Years

Editorial Reviews

Hiding behind enormous hats and eccentric, Audrey Hepburn-style clothes ("It gets me noticed, but it also keeps people from looking too closely") is a terrified high-school senior named Cary. As her obsession with "dangerous and aloof" Wendy reels out of control, Cary uses drugs and sex (with Wendy's drug-dealer twin brother) to numb her feelings. She invents (or hallucinates) a guitar-plucking mentor who offers snippets of pop lyrics by way of advice ("Freedom is just another word for nothing left to lose"). Distancing herself from her family, her best friend Jen and the cliquish members of the "Lesbian Collective" at school, Cary sinks into depression. Then Raven, a new girl and self-proclaimed lesbian, encourages Cary to confront her fears and her desires. Stoehr's (Weird on the Outside) depiction of privileged, nihilistic teens living life in the fast lane (and doing a little surfing on the side) appears more L.A.-ish than its Long Island setting might allow, and, as in her previous books, her narrator's rough language and hard-edged attitude toward sex can seem calculated ("One of the things that I liked best about Danny in bed was that he always wore a condom....With a lubricated condom he couldn't tell if I liked it or not, and that was a relief"). This time, however, the grittier elements of the story are in clearer service of a theme and message, and when the strands of the plot come together, the impact has force and vigor. Ages 14-up. (Mar.)

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

Gr 9 UpCary would like to be regarded as being tough as nails. She's effectively estranged from her parents, into drugs and drink, sleeping with a very cool guy, and secretly in love with his twin sister. She also is frequently visited by a young man no one else sees, who speaks to her in song lyrics. As you might surmise, this is one messed-up young woman. During the course of this novel, she continues her confused, self-destructive behavior while she steels herself to declare her love to Wendy. At the same time, Cary is contemptuous of the openly lesbian girls in her community and is unaware that a new girl in town has fallen in love with her. After much private anguish and denial, she seems to be more inclined to accept her own sexuality and get on with life. The milieu described by Stoehr has the ring of authenticity and her characters are believable. Unfortunately, few of them, including Cary, are likable or admirable. The language is crude and the sex is explicit; the amorality in terms of drinking, drugs, and role-playing are additionally disconcerting. Finally, considering that this book is subtitled "A Love Story," there is precious little tenderness. Nancy Garden's Annie on My Mind (Farrar, 1992) is a far more palatable novel about an adolescent lesbian relationship.Miriam Lang Budin, Mt. Kisco Public Library, NY

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