Stargirl

Author: Jerry Spinelli

This week I’m reviewing another book that I enjoyed.  When Stargirl was released back in 2000, it received positive reviews, especially for Stargirl’s character and for the message of nonconformity; and just last year, the book was made into a movie on Disney+.  The movie did fairly well and a sequel to it is in development.  For many reasons, I found this book fascinating and, just to avoid confusion with my fellow superhero fans, this book has no relation whatsoever to The CW show Stargirl which is based on DC Comics (and getting completely off track, the Stargirl TV show is one that I love and I can’t wait for season 2 in August!).

Stargirl is about a 16-year-old girl who is a new student at Mica High School, after being homeschooled her whole life.  Stargirl is very different from the other students but enchants them with her personality, most especially a student named Leo.  However, the students, not knowing how to feel about Stargirl, turn on her and Leo then becomes desperate to make Stargirl “normal.”  This book is very well written and I really enjoyed Stargirl’s character.  I loved how the book shows us her unique view of the world, even though it’s written from a perspective other than hers (from Leo’s actually).  The book is also surprisingly clean for a YA book, which I thought was interesting.  While this book was clean, there is something about it worth mentioning.  Throughout the book, Stargirl is bullied for everything that makes her different; and while the book doesn’t praise this, I feel like this could bother young adults who may have been bullied in the past.  So, I would caution parents for these scenes and would recommend it for teens only.  The best message that I think comes from this book is that you shouldn’t try to change yourself because others want you to.  Throughout the book, Stargirl is told by Leo to change who she is and become “normal” but what the fool doesn’t seem to realize is that Stargirl is already awesome just the way she is.  And while I won’t spoil the ending, Stargirl does end up embracing who she really and truly is.

“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. We did not know what to make of her. In our minds we tried to pin her to a cork board like a butterfly, but the pin merely went through and away she flew.” Leo