Hundreds of Reasons to Like 100 Dresses.
Wanda Petroski is a polish immigrant child living in a small town who, like many immigrant children, has not fully mastered the English language. This makes her especially vulnerable as prey to the stereotypical popular schoolyard bully. The way she handles this and other cultural dilemmas she faces leaves the reader affected long after they have finished reading this thought provoking work from Eleanor Estes. .
Peggy is Wanda's adversary. She is bright, popular, has money, and comes from a family that is common to the small town they live in. She sees Wanda as beneath her not only because of her odd sounding name, but also because Wanda wears the same dingy blue dress to school every day. When Wanda makes the supposed mistake of telling what the children perceive as a tall tale about having100 dresses at home in her closet, Peggy pounces on the opportunity to poke fun at her.
Eventually Wanda's poverty stricken family moves to a larger city where they will have more prospects. It is revealed that, although not in the way they had imagined, Wanda really did have 100 dresses. The children have varied responses as they realize they have missed the opportunity to be kind to a unique and talented girl. While some feel sorry for their behavior toward her, others seem indifferent. .
Herein lies the beauty of 100 Dresses. The emotions that are evoked, or not evoked in the characters, serve as the centerpiece of this story. Estes is intentionally vague with Wanda's feelings in particular. The reader does not know if Wanda is a streetwise girl who is onto the children poking fun at her or if she is a girl who is not very bright. Some could perceive Wanda as wise beyond her years, while others could perceive her as a nave child in an unfamiliar world who simply doesn't pick up on the children's subtle way of taunting her. Told from the viewpoint of a third party, the reader gets to see the actions of both Wanda and Peggy, but is never really sure of the feelings of either of these main characters.
