Product Description
Leo Borlock follows the unspoken rule at Mica Area High School: don't stand out--under any circumstances! Then Stargirl arrives at Mica High and everything changes--for Leo and for the entire school. After 15 years of home schooling, Stargirl bursts into tenth grade in an explosion of color and a clatter of ukulele music, enchanting the Mica student body.

But the delicate scales of popularity suddenly shift, and Stargirl is shunned for everything that makes her different. Somewhere in the midst of Stargirl's arrival and rise and fall, normal Leo Borlock has tumbled into love with her.

In a celebration of nonconformity, Jerry Spinelli weaves a tense, emotional tale about the fleeting, cruel nature of popularity--and the thrill and inspiration of first love.

Amazon.com Review
"She was homeschooling gone amok." "She was an alien." "Her parents were circus acrobats." These are only a few of the theories concocted to explain Stargirl Caraway, a new 10th grader at Arizona's Mica Area High School who wears pioneer dresses and kimonos to school, strums a ukulele in the cafeteria, laughs when there are no jokes, and dances when there is no music. The whole school, not exactly a "hotbed of nonconformity," is stunned by her, including our 16-year-old narrator Leo Borlock: "She was elusive. She was today. She was tomorrow. She was the faintest scent of a cactus flower, the flitting shadow of an elf owl."

In time, incredulity gives way to out-and-out adoration as the student body finds itself helpless to resist Stargirl's wide-eyed charm, pure-spirited friendliness, and penchant for celebrating the achievements of others. In the ultimate high school symbol of acceptance, she is even recruited as a cheerleader. Popularity, of course, is a fragile and fleeting state, and bit by bit, Mica sours on their new idol. Why is Stargirl showing up at the funerals of strangers? Worse, why does she cheer for the opposing basketball teams? The growing hostility comes to a head when she is verbally flogged by resentful students on Leo's televised Hot Seat show in an episode that is too terrible to air. While the playful, chin-held-high Stargirl seems impervious to the shunning that ensues, Leo, who is in the throes of first love (and therefore scornfully deemed "Starboy"), is not made of such strong stuff: "I became angry. I resented having to choose. I refused to choose. I imagined my life without her and without them, and I didn't like it either way."

Jerry Spinelli, author of Newbery Medalist Maniac Magee, Newbery Honor Book Wringer, and many other excellent books for teens, elegantly and accurately captures the collective, not-always-pretty emotions of a high school microcosm in which individuality is pitted against conformity. Spinelli's Stargirl is a supernatural teen character--absolutely egoless, altruistic, in touch with life's primitive rhythms, meditative, untouched by popular culture, and supremely self-confident. It is the sensitive Leo whom readers will relate to as he grapples with who she is, who he is, who they are together as Stargirl and Starboy, and indeed, what it means to be a human being on a planet that is rich with wonders. (Ages 10 to 14) --Karin Snelson

CUSTOMER REVIEWS (Average Customer Rating: 4.0 based on 883 reviews)

Stargirl

The characters in this wonderful story jump out of the book, bypass your brain and go straight to your heart. Leo, the narrator feels very much like every high school student must feel, and it is portrayed perfectly in the text. Every single experience he has rings true, from his good moments to the ones where, if he were standing before me I would have punched him square in the mouth.
The title character Stargirl Caraway is an amazing bouncing creative individual in a mass of conforming teenagers. She wears outrageous outfits but not because they are revealing or shocking, because they hold more personality than all of the clothing in the school could dream of. She takes the school by storm, but after the storm passes there is trouble.

http://dailylitmajor.blogspot.com/2008/08/stargirl-by-jerry-spinelli.html
September 20, 2008

a heartwarming classic

A must read!!! Best book I've ever read. I recommend it to everyone who enjoys a love story.
September 18, 2008

Is There Anything Else Kids Really Need to Learn?

I'm mostly weighing in with stars in order to counter the 1 star folks, who appear to have completely missed the point. Others have covered the book well already. It is a great young adult book. If kids could just clue in to being brave enough to live their lives without being scared of what their peers say, and to live those lives in ways that bless others, the world would be so much better. That's what Stargirl is about. Maybe as a suggestion, this book will prompt a few people in that direction. Regardless, it's good to read.
September 11, 2008

Good coming-of-age novel

A very good coming-of-age novel written entirely from a kid's point of view. We rarely even hear about adults - except of course for Archie, the leader of the Loyal Order of the Stone Bone - and he's certainly not portrayed as a "typical" adult. I think that's what I liked best about this book... never once was it condescending - as books with adult characters often are. It was a bit unrealistic, but enjoyable with good characters. You can see bits and pieces of yourself reflected in all of the characters. And most importantly it made me think....
September 02, 2008

5 Stars for Stargirl

**SPOILERS**

An absolutely amazing book. I remember reading it when I was younger and I didn't really understand it all that well. Reading it a few years later, it's so much better. I still hate and always will hate the ending, because Stargirl reads (although I guess Love, Stargirl gives me some hope that it might all be okay, that's next on my reading list!), but still. I think everyone should be a star person. Stargirl is the person everyone should strive to be, the ultimate non-judging good. I love her character to death, she's just great. Leo, on the other hand, was such a nuisance. Come ON, he should have loved her for what she was, and it seemed like he did, until he began his little crusade to change her. Susan's not Stargirl. Susan's just...wrong. He shouldn't have done that. That was a truly bitter ending, and I wish things had ended on a high-note (like maybe she could have delivered the necktie in person).
It's such a true book though. So yeah, maybe none of us have Stargirls in our schools, but don't we wish we did? I know I do. It does illustrate that whole high school popularity contest very well, and I don't think it was exaggerated one bit.
The writing itself was gorgeous. It was detailed, but not so detailed that it was long-winded and b-o-r-i-n-g, it was actually detailed and kept my interest, which is ridiculously hard for a book to do. The descriptions themselves were magical, as was the dialogue. Great book, again, except for the ending. Can't wait to read Love, Stargirl!
August 27, 2008

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