Book #4: Stargirl

This was an appropriate Valentine's Day read. I've heard a lot about this book, -- in fact, I have had a good friend for years whose Internet username was an homage to this book -- but I just never got around to reading it. I saw it on the shelf a few days ago and decided it would be the next book on my list. I read it over the course of a day, for a total of about 3.5 hours. It's a short book and is written for young adults, so it's a very quick read. That doesn't change the fact that it's a poignant, deep story that should really teach us all a lesson or two.

The story is about a home-schooled, off-the-wall 16-year-old named Stargirl who enrolls in a public high school for the first time. She is nothing like her peers: she dresses weird, she plays the ukulele and sings at lunch, she spends her free time doing anonymous good deeds for anyone and everyone, and she has no concept of meanness. The definition of nonconformist, Stargirl obviously has a hard time in the most conformist place I can immediately think of -- high school. First the students are shocked and put off by her strange behavior, then they are enchanted by her, then they turn on her.

Spinelli writes the book from the perspective of Stargirl's classmate and love interest, Leo, who loves Stargirl for her odd ways, but also hates being "shunned" by the entire school. He struggles with how to deal with Stargirl's behavior and has to decide if he cares more about how she feels or how his classmates feel.

This book says a lot for the way teenagers can be when it comes to that kid who is "different." It's a very true-to-life portrayal that is heartbreaking at times, because honestly, this girl spends her entire life doing great things for people just to see them smile, and they thank her by being jerks. You fall in love with Stargirl's carefree, loving, generous attitude, and it's hard to understand how anyone could dislike her, but... We were all judgmental teenagers once, and I think in a lot of ways most people still are. It's easy to be snobby until you're suddenly that girl that everyone is talking about. I've been there, and I've also been the target of gossip because of who I chose to date, which is Leo's predicament. I learned a lot from my own experience, but some people never let go of the high school mentality that different is bad. This book should be required reading for humans. It's sad, but it has a solid message that a lot of people need to hear.

Read February 14, 2010

4/5 Stars

--C