Stargirl (Readers Circle)
by Jerry Spinelli
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Book Reviews of Stargirl (Readers Circle)
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.
Book Review: Stargirl Book Review
Summary: 3 Stars
Are you the kind of person who likes a unique and different high school love story? Then Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli this book is the right book for you. This story is about a girl named Stargirl narrated by Leo Borlock. Stargirl is the new girl in school who is a lot different than everyone else. She wears pioneer dresses to school and doesn't wear makeup. She carries her pet rat, Cinnamon, around in her bag with a sunflower painted on it. She strums a ukulele during lunch every day and sings "Happy Birthday" to kids she has never met. On the other hand, Leo is a typical teenage boy. He blends in with the crowd and doesn't do anything to stand out.
The part about the book that I was disappointed in was that I thought that the book was going to be a love story between two teenagers. It's actually more about Stargirl and her life told by Leo's perspective. Although the book is mostly about Stargirl, it is also about how Leo has feelings for her, but he is afraid he will become unpopular if they get together. Leo is torn between the conformity issue at school and truly expressing his individuality and love for Stargirl.
Another part about the book that I didn't really like was that the story seemed a little unrealistic. I think that if there was a weird new girl at school, people wouldn't pay as much attention to her as they did in the book. I also don't think that they would care so much about her life and about how Leo and Stargirl like each other.
Both Stargirl and Leo have trouble with the option to conform or not conform. Leo chooses to be just like everyone else. Stargirl is the complete opposite. She believes that it's okay to be different and that being like everyone else is boring. I think that the books message is to be yourself and show your individuality. That means not conforming to what's "normal" and also suffering consequences that goes with that.
Overall, it wasn't what I expected the book to be about. I would've liked it a lot more if it was mainly about the relationship between Leo and Stargirl and less about Stargirl's life. I would recommend this book to people who want to read a different kind of story about a unique teenage girl.
Book Review: Who knew high school students could react so...predictably?
Summary: 3 Stars
Eleventh grader Leo Borlock narrates this over the top, fictional story about life at Mica Area High School in Arizona, forever changed after the arrival of a new student, sophomore and former homeschooler, Susan McShane, AKA Stargirl Caraway, whose nonconformist ways alternately yield reactions of disdain and awe from her classmates. In the high school world, where flying under the radar is key, it is no surprise that some students are less than thrilled at certain Stargirl behaviors, like birthday girls and boys being subjected to her rendition of Happy Birthday to You, sung loudly and publicly to the accompaniment of her ukelele, even when they've tried to opt out. Other objectionable actions include: the recitation of her preferred version of the Pledge of Allegiance (p 44), "I pledge allegiance to the United Turtles of America...," support for MAHS sports team opponents (good sportsmanship in my book), and her appearance at a (small) funeral for the relative of a fellow student stranger, which overshadow her anonymously performed random acts of kindness. Stargirl's biggest problem may be the fact that she is either oblivious to or uncaring about the feelings of her classmates. It is no surprise that she is eventually blatantly shunned and what happens after a school dance leaves her classmates wondering for years afterward.
Homeschoolers are odd, boisterous, outrageous, and clueless? School policy would allow a student to recite any version of The Pledge of Allegiance they might choose? High school basketball players could be so unfocused as to be affected by the behavior of one cheerleader? Seems unlikely. Sure, Mica Area High School was a better place for Stargirl having attended, but at what price? The message appears to be an obvious one: the different will be treated differently. Stargirl is a good choice for those hoping to start a dialogue about the issue of high school nonconformity, but is otherwise less than stellar. Better: Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery, Feed by M.T. Anderson, and The Highest Tide (rated PG) by Jim Lynch.
Book Review: Not Realistic, but Perhaps Not Meant to Be
Summary: 3 Stars
Stargirl is almost a fantasy novel, and indeed, Amazon's review calls the title character a "supernatural teen," who is "absolutely egoless, altruistic, in touch with life's primitive rhythms, meditative, untouched by popular culture, and supremely self-confident." She is certainly hardly believable as a real person, especially given that her parents are described as utterly ordinary. They've homeschooled her until the time of the book, when she opts to go to high school to make friends. This she does with wild abandon, until the new friends abandon her.
Stargirl has many traits that first confuse, then enchant, then finally enrage her classmates: she sings "happy birthday" to each of them in the lunchroom, accompanied by her ukulele, she dresses strangely in long prairie skirts, bib overalls, and outfits more outrageous and costume-like, she decorates her desk with flowers...but the final straw is her non-partisan cheering of all teams during basketball season. This culminates in a humiliating interview on the school's TV station, where one student finally hurls at her the accusation that underscores, once and for all, why non-conformity is so threatening to the herd: "What's wrong with us, that you have to be so different?"
This book isn't, I think, meant to be taken literally: all of the supporting characters, except for the narrator, Leo, are a two-dimensional backdrop for Stargirl's differentness--a differentness that is at times nonsensical and arbitrary. For example, she invokes the fruit bats of Borneo in her version of the Pledge of Allegiance. Why? "Sounds right to me." Now, you could say that all social difference seems as nonsensical and arbitrary as Bornean fruit bats to the outside observer--maybe this is what I looked like to my former classmates once upon a time. Perhaps Spirelli is using this and other examples to hammer home to the reader what the other students experienced at even Stargirl's homelier and more mundane weirdnesses, but to this weird girl's eye, it feels artificial and condescending.
Book Review: Well worth reading
Summary: 4 Stars
Review by Jill Williamson
Leo Borlock hears the rumors first. A new girl. Previously homeschooled. Weird. Even weirder: her name is Stargirl. Then he sees her. She looks like she's wearing her grandma's wedding dress, and she carries around a ukulele and serenades anyone unlucky enough to have a birthday.
Leo's first goal: to get Stargirl to appear on the show Hot Seat, the in-school TV show that Leo produces and directs. But Stargirl doesn't react like a normal student either. She doesn't seem bothered by people who make fun of her, she cheers for both football teams--even when the home team is losing--and she wraps the school body around her finger. At first.
But then things start to go bad. People start to ignore her, shun her, and treat her horribly. Leo's TV show goes so badly he can't possibly air it, because he's fallen in love with Stargirl. The only solution Leo can come up with is for Stargirl to be like everyone else. Be normal. But that could be the worst advice of all.
What a surprisingly fun story. I loved Stargirl's confidence and love for everyone. She is a strong person who challenges other students to be who they want to be and not necessarily go with the flow all the time. Sometimes high school can feel like a prison. Students can feel like they have to act a certain way or face ridicule. Life isn't meant to be lived that way, and Stargirl knows that. She does get hurt by it eventually, for let's face it, no one can be more ruthless that a bunch of high schoolers set on bringing someone down. But Stargirl bounces back, I think, because she likes who she is and she realizes that restraint is not a bad thing. She can still be her loving self but not force it on others. Stargirl is not a Christian, and may practice New Age or some other meditative religion, so take that into consideration. But the moral of the story is fabulous and well worth reading.