"Sonali" redirects here. For the doll, see Sonali Matthews (doll). For the face mold, see Sonali Mold.
Sonali Matthews is a companion to the seventh Girl of the Year, Chrissa Maxwell. She was released in 2009.
Character[]
Sonali is a ten year old girl in Chrissa's class. She is at least part South Asian, as her mother's parents are from India, and has two older sisters that attend college. Sonali appears to come from an upper-class family; her mother is a realtor and her father's profession is unknown, although he is described as having "well-groomed fingernails" and wearing a tie. Sonali's mother disapproves of her activities with the other Bees and punishes her for her actions such as making her return the valentines she stole from Chrissa and grounding her for a week. The first time she appears to be proud of Sonali is when she becomes friends with Chrissa and Gwen.
Originally, she is part of the Queen Bees (which the rest of the class calls the Mean Bees) along with Tara and Jadyn. She knew Tara from preschool, and Tara is her (at the start) best friend. She is uncomfortable with the Bees' treatment towards Chrissa and Gwen and becomes progressively more disturbed with their actions. Soon after Tara maliciously cuts off Gwen's bangs, Sonali leaves the Queen Bees. Near the end of Chrissa, she asks for forgiveness from Gwen Thompson for not speaking up and becomes best friends with Chrissa and Gwen.
Sonali has a dog named Tofu, who likes to eat toilet paper rolls. She is also quite smart; in the movie, Tara begs Sonali to come over to help her with homework. Like Chrissa Maxwell, Sonali is on the swimming and diving teams. She does the backstroke on the relay team. Chrissa also teaches her how to knit after Sonali admires Chrissa's scarf. In Chrissa Stands Strong, Sonali has a pink Motorola RAZR like Jadyn, first seen when Sonali goes to Chrissa's house to do homework.
Books[]
Sonali is a major character in Chrissa's two books, Chrissa and Chrissa Stands Strong.
Movie[]
In Chrissa Stands Strong, Sonali is portrayed by Ariela Barer. However, in the movie, Sonali is not a swimmer.
Another difference between books and movie is that Sonali does not feel bad about taunting and teasing Gwen in the beginning. However, she does change her mind about Gwen as she sees that Chrissa is befriending her.
Doll[]
- Face Mold: Sonali Mold
- Skin: Dark
- Hair: Black/dark brown, waist length, left part, no bangs, highlights, long, loose curls
- Eyes: Dark Brown
Collection[]
Sonali is part of Chrissa's Collection.
Trivia[]
- The doll of Sonali is much darker in skin tone than book illustrations.