Stargirl (Readers Circle)
by Jerry Spinelli
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Book Reviews of Stargirl (Readers Circle)
Book Review: Stargirl
Summary: 4 Stars
Have you ever met someone so different that the weirdest person you could think of was 1000 times more normal that them? In the book Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli, a girl shows up at Mica Area High School who fits that description perfectly.
When a 10th grader named Stargirl starts going to Mica Area High School (MAHS) in the middle of nowhere of a desert in Arizona nobody knows what to think of her. Most people literally hate her from the start while main character 11th grader Leo is sort of leaning the other way. He starts hanging out with her one day and discovers that even though she is really weird, he likes her a lot. Because of Stargirl's constant joy and happiness she becomes a cheerleader and the school's usually terrible basketball team goes undefeated. Unfortunately, when they start loosing in the finial games of the season everybody blames it on her. Now they hate her more than ever and Leo is noticing that people are starting to ignore him as well because he is friends with her.
The audience for this book is young teens who like stories about friendship and a little romance because it involves many of the problems that teens deal with like fitting in. The audience stays the same throughout the book. The genre is realistic fiction because it isn't a true story but it could happen in real life. I wouldn't say that I have ever read a book like this one. It was a little strange in some parts.
I can relate Stargirl to the book Twilight because nobody knew what to think of Stargirl just like nobody knows what to think about the Cullen family. Also in both books there is a new girl starting a new school in a small town. This book is also different from Twilight in a lot of ways. For example, there are no vampires or other mythical creature in Stargirl just humans and a few animals.
Something that I liked about Stargirl is that everything especially the setting was described extremely well. However, I didn't like how the text was set up because there wasn't very much dialog, it was mainly just Leo's thoughts. I also didn't like that the story got a little confusing at times because it was a very fast moving book and it would say he of she a lot instead of using names so I would sometimes loose track of who was talking. The last thing I didn't like was that in my opinion some of Leo's choices weren't the brightest.
In conclusion, I thought Stargirl was an ok book. If you like strange stories I would definitely recommend it and even if you don't I say you should still give it a try.
Book Review: Prismatic
Summary: 5 Stars
How do I even begin?
This is one of the best books I've ever read. One of the best books ever written. I was walking through a bookstore, and I was scanning all the norm, all the cliche titles. I'm not really expecting to find anything at all. I hardly ever do. The section that is supposed to interest me I find dull and unoriginal. Its as if some people think that children my age (twelve) are machines and can be fed the same thing over and over and over and OVER.
Then I see the blue cover, stuck in between other titles. You had to have your eyes out for it. I spotted it. It was nearly hidden. I'm glad I saw. The title just sings to me.
Ooh. Stargirl.
I read the back. I read the first chapter. She's playing the ukelele, she's dancing around the cafeiteria in her long white dress, in the middle of the dull, indifferently-conformed Mica High student body, where Leo Borlock, the protagonist, is watching along with all the other kids at the tables, ogling at this girl who calls herself `Stargirl', strumming her ukelele and singing, with a rat riding happily on her shoulder.
That is enough for me. I bought it. I finished it in a night and a day.
It's not your run-o-the-mill `be yourself' story. And its not telling to just simply `be different'. Its about truly being who you want to be (or, rather, who you ARE--made up of the dreams of the person you ARE before you wake up in the morning), and also about doing good with what time we have on this earth.
And I did have a feeling that I would be heartbroken by the end. I was. But somehow that only added to the experience of this luminous story.
Its about feelings. Its about first love, about caring for others, about spontaneous acts of kindness, about a slender ray of sunshine in darkness.
Archie said it best: "When a Stargirl cries, she does not shed tears, but light."
It inspired me to think about people in general. It inspired me and surprised me. I look for little things. I find myself naturally drawn towards everything I overlooked before. I like these rare books that I can read and really remember, taking little bits of it, if only sentences, and them becoming apart of me, and carrying them around inside of me and those words echoing throughout me.
Bravo to Mr. Jerry Spinelli. This is a perfectly prismatic story.
Book Review: Everyone should read this!
Summary: 5 Stars
Here it is! The 5-star book that I've been looking for!! No dragons, no witches, no fairies, no elves! Just a book about people - one girl and one boy, in particular.
Susan Caraway is Stargirl. She is new at Mica Area High School and everyone talks about her. To say she is unique is an understatement. She dresses differently, she has a ukelele strapped to her back and she brings her pet rat Cinnamon with her everywhere (although, this wouldn't be allowed in a real school.)
Leo Borlock is instantly taken with Stargirl. He even follows her home after school one day. But Stargirl knows he's there and takes him on a long and winding adventure through the town that is until she goes out into the desert, that's when Leo turns around. This event quite possibly sums up their relationship. Stargirl takes things farther than Leo's comfort level until he turns around to safety.
Jerry Spinelli created the most singular, selfless and interesting character I've read about in a long time. Perhaps Stargirl is a bit too giving but if everyone who read about her took a piece of that kindness away with them, the world might be a better place.
I liked the description of the budding romance between Stargirl and Leo. I liked how Spinellis showed that a relationship can be steered by the people in it or the people outside of it.
I won't tell the ending but I will tell you that I cried at the end. I cried for Stargirl, I cried for Leo, I even cried for their old teacher Archie. The tears, I realized, were my sorrow at the realization that this is the way of the world. People breathe, they love, they get hurt, they die and time keeps marching on.
I am looking forward to Love, Stargirl. I've heard Leo's point of view, now I'd like to read Susan's.
I recommend this book to everyone. But to be specific, this book would probably best be enjoyed by the reader who likes in-school stories about people and relationships. Although the title seems a bit mystical, there is no fantasy or other-worldly element to this book. Those looking for wizardry or magic should look elsewhere (although I remain firm in my belief that everyone should read this book.) I loved it!
Book Review: Startling and Provocative: This Book Made Me Reexamine My Life
Summary: 5 Stars
Every time I finish reading this book, I find that it is about something new. In middle school, I thought it was about porcupine neckties. In high school, I thought it was about teenagers in love. And now, after my third pass, I discovered that this book is about people: you and me.
"Stargirl" is the story of a tenth-grade, previously homeschooled girl who shows up on the first day of class with a flowing dress, a ukulele, and a song to sing. Stargirl's character represents nonconformity: the childhood spirit, the innocence, the brilliance, the absolute wide-eyed wonder that is waiting to burst out of each and every one of us. But that's not how her peers see her. Though initially hoorahed for bringing something new and special to her bland high school in Mica, Arizona, Stargirl is quickly shunned by the rest of her school for being too awkward, too nice, too...different.
And that's not good for Leo, the character whose perspective the story is told from. Leo is an eleventh-grader and director of the school TV show, "Hotseat." His initial reaction to Stargirl was nothing more than a mild interest to put her on his show. However, he quickly becomes enamored. He follows her home from school, thinks about her at night, and then begins to hang out with her, discovering the world through her eyes.
As Stargirl's popularity wanes, Leo must fight a personal war: who's affection does he value more, the world's, or Stargirls'? This is no classic battle between good and evil; there is no right or wrong answer to Leo's quest. Along the way, Leo finds out what it means to be alone, to be one with consciousness, to be spontaneous, to be in love, and to be loved back.
Most of us are Leo's. Within a limit, we're normal, think normally, act normally--we seldom break the collective constraints that society places on us. But Stargirl not only breaks those boundaries; she lives outside of them, swimming in the vast universe of human possibility and potential. As Leo gets to know Stargirl, I felt like I, as the reader, got the chance become reacquainted with a long lost part of myself. This book made me reexamine my life and what is important to me. It is one I will never grow tired of reading.
Book Review: kcs StArGiRl
Summary: 4 Stars
"At the same time, we held back. Because she was differnt. Differnt. We had no one to compare her to, no one to measure her against. She was unknown to territory. Unsafe. We were afraid to get too close."
How would you feel if you were labeled as wierd? This is how Satrgirl feels in "Stargirl" bt Jerry Spinelli. This book took place in Arizona at Mica High School and is modern time. The main character of this book is 14 year old Stargirl Caraway. Stargirl is a new girl at Mica High and when she first arrived everbody thought she was very wierd. Other kids at the school find it hard to make friends with her but Stargirl doesn't care what others think of her. Stargirl is a very outgoing person and makes others feel happy. On students birthdays she sings to them Happy Birthday with her ukulele. At games she would randomly appear with the marching band and play her imaginary flute. After the game, instead of being an outcast she became the popular girl. Leo finds himself liking Stargirl and she likes him too. When Stargirl falls more in love with Leo, she writes things where everyone can see and Leo gets embarrassed. After an incident at a basketball game, no one likes Stargirl anymore and turns thier back on her. When this has happened, Leo tells her that no one likes her and that he wants her to change. After this happens Stargirl runs away.
I think the theme of this book is to excepr people for who they are and not to judge others. The title "Stargirl" is about Stargirl's life. The pacing of this book was in between but wasn't to fast. I thought the authors craft was very good and his writing was funny. I don't think this book was written in Christian perspecive because it didn't talk about God or anything Chritianly. The genre of this book was realistic fiction because things in this book can happen in real life. The other book I read by Jerry Spinelli was LOSER. Stargirl and LOSER have similar things in common because both main characters are hard to get along with and are very differnt. They both also have the same genre. I thought Stargirl wsa a very good and funny book. I would recommend this book to humorous people because I think they would enjoy it.