Gwen Thompson

"Gwen" redirects here. For the doll, see Gwen Thompson (doll). For the 2022 companion to Corinne Tan, see Gwynn Tan. For the Hopscotch Hill School character, see Gwen.

Gwen Thompson
Basic Information
Full Name	Gwen Thompson
Birth	c. 1999
Series Data
First Appearance	Chrissa
Family Relationships
Father	Mr. Thompson
Mother	Janine Thompson
Friends or Other Relationships
Noted Friends and Peers	Chrissa Maxwell Sonali Matthews

Gwen Thompson is a companion to the seventh Girl of the Year, Chrissa Maxwell. She was released in 2009.

Character

Gwen Thompson is a girl in Chrissa's fourth grade class. She has large brown eyes and blonde hair she initially lets hang over her eyes.

She is shy, lonely, and quiet and picked on; she has no friends until Chrissa befriends her. The Queen Bees--Tara, Sonali and Jadyn--refer to her as the "Loser Girl" and play mean and spiteful pranks on her. The bullying disturbs Sonali Matthews and soon after Tara maliciously cuts off Gwen's bangs, Sonali leaves the group and becomes friends with Gwen and Chrissa.

Gwen and her mother Janine fell on hard times when her father lost his job; they later lost the house as they were unable to keep up payments. Soon after, Gwen's father abandoned the family, and she and her mother became homeless the prior fall. Initially, they live in their car until the winter comes; Gwen's mother then takes them to Sunrise House, a place for homeless women and children. Sunrise House helps them get on their feet and eventually move into a new apartment. Gwen feels that her situation makes it too embarrassing for her to make any friends.

Like Sonali and Chrissa, Gwen likes to swim. However, she is not a strong swimmer and is sent to work with the younger eight and nine year olds. She becomes the swim coach's assistant on the swim team so that she can participate and learn to swim better. In Chrissa Stands Strong this makes her the object of cyberbullying.

In the movie, Gwen is an extremely skilled violinist; she uses a school violin because she no longer has her own (it is not specified how it was lost). In the books she mentions that she used to have a violin but she is not said to play at school. She also likes harps, but does not play them.

Books

Gwen is a major character in Chrissa's two books, Chrissa and Chrissa Stands Strong.

Movie

In Chrissa Stands Strong Gwen is portrayed by Kaitlyn Dever.

Doll

See: Gwen Thompson (doll)

The Gwen doll.

• Face Mold: Classic Mold
• Skin: Light
• Hair: Blonde

Originally, Gwen came with her hair pulled to the side in a white ponytail holder with two small pieces hanging in front and a pink headband. In February 2009, her hair was restyled to have a half ponytail near the top, and her headband was put around the waist of her dress as a headband/belt.

• Eyes: Brown

Collection

Gwen is part of Chrissa's Collection.

Trivia

• The Gwen doll is similar in looks to Just Like You 12.
• Gwen's story about being briefly unhoused was somewhat controversial later in the year. In the story, Gwen and her mother lose their house when the Thompsons are unable to make the payments. They spend several months sleeping in the family car before they get a new place to stay through the shelter. Gwen's mother later describes her family life following their eviction and their being helped through the shelter. The controversy started when a conservative columnist wrote an article in the New York Post in September 2009 and characterized the doll's backstory as inappropriate "political indoctrination" intended to encourage children to sympathize with unhoused people. Several websites and political blogs began to spread the story with many places writing partially incorrect stories or repeating incorrect information stated elsewhere. An unnamed representative of American Girl later responded: "The doll is meant to teach tolerance and is part of an outreach program teaching young girls how to spot bullying and stand up and speak out against it," stating that the characters "offer valuable lessons about life" and they were disheartened that there had been any confusion over their fictional characters. While no proceeds from sales of Gwen or any related offerings went directly to help the homeless, the company had at the time donated almost $500,000 since 2006 to HomeAid, a national nonprofit group that works to help the homeless find housing. American Girl later issued press release along with HomeAid explaining their contributions to help the temporarily homeless.