Stargirl

Title: Stargirl

Author: Jerry Spinelli                     

Genre: Realistic Fiction

Publisher: Knopf Books

Copyright Date:  2000

Pages in Book: 192 pages

Reading Level: Young Adult

Summary: This particular story is about a young girl named Susan moves to a new high school (Mica Area High School). She does everything out of the ordinary. She dresses up in different clothes, sings “Happy Birthday” to complete strangers, and she even cheers for both teams during school athletic games! There is a shy boy named Leo, who falls for Susan (or Stargirl). Soon Stargirl becomes extremely popular, and people are dying to be just like her. The most popular girl in school, Hillari Kimble, is very rude to Stargirl and refuses to include her in anything. It isn’t long before Stargirl is invited to join the cheerleading squad. The basketball team begins playing incredibly well, and Stargirl gets frustrated, and cheers for the other team (in addition to her team), something that she did before she became popular and on the cheerleading squad. Basketball play-offs come and go, and after losing horribly, the school blames Stargirl on the big loss and pretty much shuns her. Her only friends are Dori and Leo, who she begins dating. It soon becomes obvious to Leo that the couple is rejected from almost everyone at school, and he begs Stargirl to become “normal”. So she becomes consumed with dressing right and acting the way her peers act. The Ocotillo ball comes around, and Leo refuses to go. Stargirl goes to the dance alone, and once she walks onto the tennis courts everyone becomes instantly impressed and her popularity level begins to rise again. She asks the DJ to play the “Bunny Hop” and everyone at the dance (minus Hillari and Wayne) dance. Later on during the dance, Hillari slaps Stargirl across the face, and instead of retaliating, she kisses her on the cheek. After leaving the dance, Stargirl is never seen again.

Reaction: I thought this was a VERY cute book. It reminded me a lot of when I was younger and the struggle that I went through while in middle school. I think that a lot of teenagers would be able to connect with this book, and be able to see what it’s like for others and how they would react. I was really impressed with Stargirl and how she held her own. She never lost her cool, and it seems like she treated everyone exactly how she would want to be treated. I thought that this book was a good read, and one that I thoroughly enjoyed.

Recommendation: I’d recommend this book to children entering into middle school. Preferably girls though. I think that girls would be able to make a stronger connection to the main character (Stargirl) than the boys would.

Potential Problems/Conflicts: I didn’t see it so much as a problem as I saw it as disappointing, was when Hillari slapped Stargirl across the face. I don’t feel that that happens all that much, and when I did happen (even though Stargirl acted more mature), I felt bad for her, and wished that the author had let something else happen, instead of that slap.