Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli

The book I selected for our Girls and YA Lit. week was Stargirl. I had enjoyed reading a couple of Spinelli’s other books (Maniac Magee, Crash and Wringer) so I was excited to have some time (and a reason) to read this novel.

Stargirl has been on many “Best Book” lists and has received several awards, including the Young Hoosier Book Award in 2003. It is on the reading list for the AP Literature course at Hillsborough High School, where I taught in central New Jersey. Just like the book I read last week, Stargirl was highly recommended to me by several of my former students.

Brief synopsis: Stargirl Caraway enters Mica High School as a new tenth grader, and the other students don’t know what to think of her. She has long, flowing brown hair and a plain face, but she wears eccentric outfits (e.g. kimonos and pioneer dresses). Stargirl plays the ukulele in the cafeteria and laughs for no reason at all. Her classmates can’t figure her out and actually end up accepting her because she is friendly to everyone and is unique. This doesn’t last for long though. Soon they turn on Stargirl after she cheers for the opposing teams during basketball games. Despite Stargirl’s status as an outcast, she and the narrator, 16-year-old Leo Borlock, become a couple. Stargirl seems impervious to the shunning of her classmates, while Leo is not quite as strong. In order to regain the approval of their peers, Leo convinces Stargirl to become “normal.” By the end of the novel, both Leo and Stargirl learn a lesson about conforming versus just being yourself.

I *loved* this book! Stargirl is so completely over the top as a character—unaffected by popular culture, confident, reflective, selfless and giving. Stargirl could be used effectively in the classroom, and I think it would easily spark discussion.