Gwen Thompson is a shy and quiet girl in Chrissa's class with large brown eyes and blond hair she lets hang over her eyes (before it was cut). 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 through the book. 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 left them and they became homeless the fall before the start of the book's events. Initially, Gwen's mother has them live in their car until the winter comes; she then takes them to Sunrise House, a place for homeless women and children. Sunrise House helps them get on their feet and eventually get a new apartment.
Like Sonali and Chrissa, Gwen likes to swim. However, she is not a strong swimmer and is sent to work with the 8-9 year olds. She becomes the swim coach's assistant on the swim team in the second book so that she can participate and learn to swim better. In Chrissa Stands Strong, this makes her the object of cyberbullying.
Gwen Thompson is a companion to the seventh Girl of the Year, Chrissa Maxwell. She was released and retired by the American Girl Doll company in 2009.
