Dear Wendy

An instant Indie Bestseller! Out now in hardcover and ebook from Feiwel & Friends (Macmillan) and in audio from Listening Library (Penguin Random House)!

Dear Wendy's Sophie and Jo, two aromantic and asexual college students, engage in an online feud while unknowingly becoming friends in real life, in this dual POV Young Adult contemporary debut from Ann Zhao

Sophie Chi is in her first year of college (though her parents wish she'd attend a “real” university rather than a liberal arts school) and has long accepted her aroace (aromantic and asexual) identity. She knows she’ll never fall in love, but she enjoys running an Instagram account that offers relationship advice to students at her school. No one except her roommate can know that she’s behind the incredibly popular “Dear Wendy” account.

When Joanna “Jo” Ephron (also a first-year aroace college student) created their “Sincerely Wanda” account, it wasn’t at all meant to take off or be taken seriously—not like Wendy’s. But now they might have a rivalry of sorts with Wendy’s account? Oops. As if Jo’s not busy enough having existential crises over gender identity, whether she’ll ever truly be loved, and the possibility of her few friends finding The One then forgetting her!

While tensions are rising online, Sophie and Jo grow closer in real life, especially once they realize their shared aroace identity and start a campus organization for other a-spec students. Will their friendship survive if they learn just who’s behind the Wendy and Wanda accounts?

Exploring a-spec identities, college life, and more, while perfect for fans of Alice Oseman’s Loveless, this is ultimately a love story about two people who are not—and will not—be in love!

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Cover illustration: Betsy Cola. Cover design: Julia Bianchi.
Alt text (credit to Ann Zhao): Cover of Dear Wendy by Ann Zhao. A white person with curly brown hair, wearing a T-shirt and cat-patterned pajama pants, lies on their back on a green rug. An East Asian girl with a long ponytail, wearing glasses, a purple pullover, and joggers, lies on her stomach, perpendicular to the brunette. They are surrounded by various items: a nearly empty popcorn bowl, a laptop, their cell phones, and a stuffed frog. The title Dear Wendy is written above them in white cursive. The tagline, at the top, reads “A love story … but not the kind you’d expect.” The author’s name is on the bottom right corner. The background is a solid, light purple.
Aphobia (challenged), anxiety/stress from negative social media attention, frank discussions of sex and sexuality, various diaspora feelings.
Please feel free to reach out in my contact form if you read Dear Wendy and feel that additional warnings should be added.
“Zhao curates a realistic setting at a women’s college full of angsty queer students caught in the throes of romance, self-doubt, and self-discovery, culminating in a gently sweet aro-ace rom-com and a raw and emotionally resonant debut.” —Publishers Weekly, starred review
“This book is a love letter to chosen family, platonic love, and the aromantic and asexual communities. If you have ever wished that more romances were about friends, or if you’ve ever found yourself thinking that Jo March from Little Women was probably aromantic, then you need to do yourself a favor and pick it up.” —Booklist, starred review
“Jo, Sophie, their friends, and their family members all have nuanced identities and strong relationships that enrich the narrative and worldbuilding. The no romo love story aroaces have been waiting for.” —Kirkus
“The platonic love story of my dreams! Dear Wendy fluently speaks the language of contemporary aroace spaces and celebrates the healing power of community and understanding for those of us who can feel deeply alone in our life experience. Added to an entertaining Instagram feud and the relationship dramas of a liberal arts college, this book was so delightful, affirming, and heartwarming.” —Alice Oseman, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Heartstopper
“The sort of love that modern storytelling needs. Dear Wendy is a warm embrace in book form—for a-spec identity, for coming-of-age, and for friendship that ties the very soul.” —Chloe Gong, #1 New York Times bestselling author of These Violent Delights
“Reading Dear Wendy felt like sitting down with a friend you’ve known your whole life. Ann Zhao’s voice is so witty, warm, and effortlessly charming in this pitch-perfect coming-of-age story and love letter to friendship—I’m an instant fan.” —Ann Liang, New York Times bestselling author of I Hope This Doesn’t Find You
“A charming and warm coming-of-age story that deftly explores friendship, a-spec identities and relationships as a whole.” —Adiba Jaigirdar, award-winning author of The Dos and Donuts of Love
“Every page feels like a warm hug. Zhao beautifully crafted a story that will resonate and represent readers while also showing the amazing—and various—ways our hearts can love.” —Alechia Dow, author of The Sound of Stars
“Dear Wendy is a richly heartfelt story that celebrates the healing powers of newfound community and friendship. Zhao’s debut is an unputdownable blend of timely humor, accessible queer theory, and dimensional platonic relationships all explored through the daily minutiae and chaos of early college life.” —Racquel Marie, author of Ophelia After All
“Charming, vivid, and sweetly subversive—Dear Wendy is an ode to community, kinship, and unraveling others’ assumptions. An evergreen reminder that the best love stories aren’t always romantic.” —Becky Albertalli, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Simon Vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda
“Heartfelt and hilarious, Dear Wendy shows how powerful and life-changing platonic love can be. Ann Zhao tenderly explores the importance of found family, queer platonic love, and the joy and comfort that comes with finding people who get you better than anyone else.” —Aiden Thomas, New York Times bestselling author of The Sunbearer Trials and Cemetery Boys

buy dear wendy!

Note: some of these links are affiliate links, which means I will earn a little extra money from that retailer if you purchase Dear Wendy through them. Cheers to capitalism.

I always encourage purchasing through local, independently-owned bookstores whenever it’s physically and financially possible. Support local businesses! However, any purchase (or library request) matters to me!

signed copies

Signed stock can be found at the following bookstores as of April 2024; call the store before you order to confirm they still have signed copies available. (If they don’t, feel free to contact me so I can update this list!) Personalizations can be requested from Anderson’s Bookshop.

Anderson’s Bookshop (Naperville, IL and Downers Grove, IL)
Exile in Bookville (Chicago, IL)
Wellesley Books (Wellesley, MA)
Porter Square Books (Cambridge, MA and Boston, MA)
Brookline Booksmith (Brookline, MA)

In addition, a small number of other stores around the U.S. have copies with signed bookplates, and I also stop by a bunch of Chicago and Chicago-area bookstores periodically to sign what they have.