Stargirl

Stargirl
Jerry Spinelli
Random House Children's Books
Copyright 2002
Pages: 208
Reading Level: 12 and up
Genre: Science Fiction
Summary:
Leo Borlock got a porcupine necktie as a goodbye present from Uncle Pete as Leo's family moved to Mica Arizona. He decided to start collecting porcupine neckties, but was never able to find any until one birthday two were left on the doorstep for him. In Leo's junior year in high school, Stargirl showed up. She was as different from normal as you could get. She sang Happy Birthday to students during lunch, wore costumes to school, and made her desk into a personal space for each class. The whole school falls in love with her and wake up from the hibernation they had been in. Students started to go to sporting events, they developed their own personal styles, and they were excited about life. Stargirl was invited to join the cheerleading squad and she cheered for everyone, she even cheered when the opposing team scored a point. The school began to loose spirit when Stargirl ran to the aid of the opposing team's star player. They turned on her when they lost. Stargirl was invited to be on hotseat and it turned into a bashing contest, everyone on the jury tried to put her down the best. After this, Leo and Stargirl start to date. Leo finally realizes that nobody talks to him when he's with Stargirl (which is most of the time). He talks to Archie who asks Leo who's opinion does he care about more, the school's or Stargirl's. After this, Leo talks Stargirl into trying to be normal for a while. She does her best, using a normal name, wearing name brand clothes, acting normal, doing things that normal kids do, winning the speech contest, but to no avail, still nobody will talk to her or even look at her. The next Monday, she goes back to being Stargirl. Leo doesn't ask her to the last dance of the year, and she goes on her own. She starts the bunny hop and leads almost everybody around, they've warmed their hearts to her again. After the bunny hop is over, Stargirl leaves the dance and is never seen by anyone in Mica again, but she does send Leo a porcupine tie for his birthday long after graduation.
Recommendations and Conflict:
I would recommend this book to every kid in the sixth grade. The conflict I see in this book is the shunning.
Reactions:
This book is about being yourself even if nobody else appreciates it. When I read it, I wanted to cry for all that Stargirl went through and I wanted to yell at Leo and the rest of the kids in the entire high school. The thing is though, you have to remember where you were in your life when you went through high school and understand what part you would have played in this book.