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Tomorrow Wendy
I've discovered that if you wear a big enough hat, no one worries much about what's going on inside your head.
Cary should know. Her head is a mess behind the floppy Audrey Hepburn hat she wears. Her best friend is a boy who speaks to her in song lyrics--a boy that only she can see. And no one, not even Cary's 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. Wendy is sexy and dangerous. Cary thinks that Wendy could love her the way Danny does. There's just one problem. Wendy is Danny's sister.
Cary should know. Her head is a mess behind the floppy Audrey Hepburn hat she wears. Her best friend is a boy who speaks to her in song lyrics--a boy that only she can see. And no one, not even Cary's 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. Wendy is sexy and dangerous. Cary thinks that Wendy could love her the way Danny does. There's just one problem. Wendy is Danny's sister.
176 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1998
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
August 20, 2008
This is one of those "everything and the kitchen sink" YA novels that pumps up all the teen hysteria and alienation amid a vortex of drugs, sex, and emotion. Cary's messed-up in the way that only fiction allows you to be outside of a mental ward, talking constantly to a very imaginary friend who dispenses cryptic advice (if those aren't Depeche Mode lyrics, they should be!!). Other than that, she's just your regular sexually-confused straight-A student who does ecstasy every time she heads out to the local underage "dance club" (which sounds suspiciously like a bowling alley with pretensions).
She's hung up about Wendy, her E-dealing boyfriend's sister, but she's so obviously bad news you know that's going nowhere. The book's real emotional core lies with her relationship to Raven, the New Girl At School who's a heartbroken 'out' lesbian and (as name suggests) all-out funky Rave Cookie who is obviously better suited for Cary to bite into!
The plot is predictable enough, but I'm intrigued by the way this material is handled. Like most YA novels, it's an outrageous mess, by turns trashy, poetic, insightful, and utterly baffling. As so often, the writer doesn't quite find a consistent tone or message here. For instance, if Cary's trying the wrong escape through Ecstasy, and if her savior Raven only goes to parties "to dance", then why does Raven all of a sudden start nonchalantly doing mushrooms and E herself? And if you're trying to portray teen lesbians in a positive light, then what's up with the creepy pack of feminazis always groping Cary in the club bathroom? I often found myself annoyed with these characters, especially Raven who often acts like such a lost puppy I almost wished Cary could hit it off with the catatonic badass Wendy instead. And yet-- ultimately, there's something sweet at the core of this novel that, for all its debauched trappings, makes me think it's still a persuasive and moving story about love.
She's hung up about Wendy, her E-dealing boyfriend's sister, but she's so obviously bad news you know that's going nowhere. The book's real emotional core lies with her relationship to Raven, the New Girl At School who's a heartbroken 'out' lesbian and (as name suggests) all-out funky Rave Cookie who is obviously better suited for Cary to bite into!
The plot is predictable enough, but I'm intrigued by the way this material is handled. Like most YA novels, it's an outrageous mess, by turns trashy, poetic, insightful, and utterly baffling. As so often, the writer doesn't quite find a consistent tone or message here. For instance, if Cary's trying the wrong escape through Ecstasy, and if her savior Raven only goes to parties "to dance", then why does Raven all of a sudden start nonchalantly doing mushrooms and E herself? And if you're trying to portray teen lesbians in a positive light, then what's up with the creepy pack of feminazis always groping Cary in the club bathroom? I often found myself annoyed with these characters, especially Raven who often acts like such a lost puppy I almost wished Cary could hit it off with the catatonic badass Wendy instead. And yet-- ultimately, there's something sweet at the core of this novel that, for all its debauched trappings, makes me think it's still a persuasive and moving story about love.
December 1, 2017
I really enjoyed this book,
How I ended up with this book is actually pretty interesting, I'd rememeber reading a book a few years ago where the main female character falls in love with a girl, who becomes her friend, she can't say anything to her friend about it and instead starts dating her crushes twin brother, a lot of emphasis is put on the fact that the brothers and sister are so similar, so trying to find this book years later I came across Tomorrow Wendy, I know from the beguining that this wasn't the book I was looking for but it sounded similar so i picked it up.
After sitting on my shelf for longer then I care to admit I started reading this book today and also finished it today, it's a pretty short read, and I did really enjoy it.
In some ways this is as much a book about Cary's decent into insanity as it is about her crush on Wendy.
In many ways Cary is a typical High school student, worried about how other view her enough to not want to be associated with the 'Lesbian club' But individual enough to wear a dead actresses style of clothing and not caring what others say about it.
But she's also sick, it's pretty obvious as a reader that Rad is not real, he's a hallucination but her obsession with Wendy although could be worse, is still pretty strong, enough to emphasise how unwell she is as well.
So poor Cary is getting worse and worse through the book,
The ending was satisfactory, I would have liked the book to be longer but otherwise I felt the books wrapped up Cary's story well, other people? Not so much.
How I ended up with this book is actually pretty interesting, I'd rememeber reading a book a few years ago where the main female character falls in love with a girl, who becomes her friend, she can't say anything to her friend about it and instead starts dating her crushes twin brother, a lot of emphasis is put on the fact that the brothers and sister are so similar, so trying to find this book years later I came across Tomorrow Wendy, I know from the beguining that this wasn't the book I was looking for but it sounded similar so i picked it up.
After sitting on my shelf for longer then I care to admit I started reading this book today and also finished it today, it's a pretty short read, and I did really enjoy it.
In some ways this is as much a book about Cary's decent into insanity as it is about her crush on Wendy.
In many ways Cary is a typical High school student, worried about how other view her enough to not want to be associated with the 'Lesbian club' But individual enough to wear a dead actresses style of clothing and not caring what others say about it.
But she's also sick, it's pretty obvious as a reader that Rad is not real, he's a hallucination but her obsession with Wendy although could be worse, is still pretty strong, enough to emphasise how unwell she is as well.
So poor Cary is getting worse and worse through the book,
The ending was satisfactory, I would have liked the book to be longer but otherwise I felt the books wrapped up Cary's story well, other people? Not so much.
August 5, 2025
It was cute, but could have been better. Be weary of biophobia, which was common in this time period as well as some odd internalized homophobia. all par for the course, unfortunately, for these retro fictions.
April 1, 2009
Cary, a high school senior who dresses like Audrey Hepburn and has an imaginary friend named Rad, falls "in love" with her boyfriend's sister. She does creepy things such as take lint from the armpit of the sister's sweater and if I remember correctly, paint chips from her bedroom. She stashes these items behind a unicorn painting in her bedroom. I suppose this is a believable young adult story, the way it turns out, even though it was predictable from the beginning.
November 14, 2011
Okay, I loved the Characters, like Rad, but thought the ending and story was just over all depressing she did't give herself an answer, or if you know what happened to Wendy and Danny. But i enjoyed the music lyrics and they din't give a reason for Rad, was he an illusion or angel what?! a sad book not a love story a far cry
February 18, 2012
I liked this book until it broke my heart. I kept reading, kept expecting SOMETHING good or nice to happen to the protagonist and well, I hate to spoil it for you, but nothing good ever happens. Rad was this book's saving grace, but he wasn't enough. It was especially bad because I read this as a confused, sexual minority teenager looking for some validation.
February 14, 2014
There are a lot of complicated issues that Shelley Stoehr brings to the story and it is an interesting coming out story, but it instead of really delving into the issues the story makes frequent time jumps that left me feeling confused about the characters and their choices.
July 23, 2016
- 1990s young adult fiction
- short, fast read
- lots of drugs (ecstasy etc) and alcohol
- protagonist Cary has an imaginary friend who speaks in only song lyrics
- characters go surfing all the time - setting is Southern California, perhaps?
- short, fast read
- lots of drugs (ecstasy etc) and alcohol
- protagonist Cary has an imaginary friend who speaks in only song lyrics
- characters go surfing all the time - setting is Southern California, perhaps?
July 20, 2007
I think this is the book where the protagonist's imaginary friend only speaks to her in depeche mode lyrics or something like that.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews