Stargirl

Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli

Published in 2002. 208 pages

Amazon link


Genre: Fiction, Young Adult

My overall score: 3.75/5

What its about (taken from amazon.com): Stargirl Caraway, a new 10th grader at Arizona's Mica Area High School wears pioneer dresses and kimonos to school, strums a ukulele in the cafeteria, laughs when there are no jokes, and dances when there is no music. The whole school, not exactly a "hotbed of nonconformity," is stunned by her, including our 16-year-old narrator Leo Borlock: "She was elusive. She was today. She was tomorrow. She was the faintest scent of a cactus flower, the flitting shadow of an elf owl."

Jerry Spinelli, elegantly and accurately captures the collective, not-always-pretty emotions of a high school microcosm in which individuality is pitted against conformity. Spinelli's Stargirl is a supernatural teen character--absolutely egoless, altruistic, in touch with life's primitive rhythms, meditative, untouched by popular culture, and supremely self-confident. It is the sensitive Leo whom readers will relate to as he grapples with who she is, who he is, who they are together as Stargirl and Starboy, and indeed, what it means to be a human being on a planet that is rich with wonders. (Ages 10 to 14)

My thoughts: This story talked about being different, unique and happy with yourself. It also touches on bullying vs. popularity and peer pressure. For some reason, Stargirl reminded me of my cousin Karen. When we were younger, she was such a free spirit and I envied that about her! There is a quote toward the back of the book that really touched me: "...every once in awhile someone comes along who is a little more primitive then the rest of us, a little closer to our beginnings, a little more in touch with the stuff we're made of." This book is considered mandatory reading in many school districts. Interesting.

Date finished: June 18, 2008

What I'm reading now: Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult