What do You think about Stargirl (2002)?
Stargirl Caraway is the new girl at Mica Area High School, and in her mysterious first days of school, she reveals herself to be a true unique individual. She plays a ukalele! She carries around a pet rat! She gives little gifts and cards to people she doesn't know! Soon, all of the high school cannot resist her charm, and she has the entire community under her spell. But after a while, Stargirl's actions become tiresome, irritating, and the question rises among her peers: why can't she just be normal? Soon, Stargirl is ostracized for all of the wonderful things that make her special. Will Stargirl recover and ever be loved for just being herself?I loved this book. I cried at the end of the book, partly because the ending was so touching and partly because the story itself was over. I loved Stargirl's character and child-like innocence, I loved the romance between her and narrator Leo, I loved the book on CD read by John Ritter. I haven't been this happy about a book in a long time!One small note: in high school oratorical contests, the speaker sends in their speech to a committee ahead of time, and cannot deviate from that written speech at the time of delivery.
—Talia
“If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away.” - Henry David ThoreauThis was a quote that rang in my head all throughout my reading of this book. It’s the story of Stargirl Caraway, a girl who dared to be different in high school, a time when teenagers often choose to conform to convention in a desire to fit in. Her story is narrated some fifteen years later by Leo Borlock, a classmate who befriended her and later fell in love. I found Leo to be a wonderfully authentic character. I liked his honesty and I felt the pain of his dilemma as he became torn between his feelings for Stargirl and his own need to be socially accepted. His life was changed by Stargirl, a fact that he realizes too late. I also came to relate to opposing sides in the course of the story. Like Leo, I admired Stargirl for the courage of her convictions but I admit I probably would have been bewildered by her in high school like most of the students in the story. I often felt that Stargirl’s character was over-the-top, the most unusual teenager I’ve ever encountered. She reminded me of Luna Lovegood but with more exuberance. But I guess it’s the author’s way of telling us that even the strangest of people have a story to tell and we can do well to listen to them.As adults, we’ve come to celebrate individuality or, at the very least, to have a higher tolerance for them. It’s more difficult for teenagers to do so especially now that we have the social networks to constantly dictate to them what is acceptable and what is not. That is why this is a wonderful book for teenagers and younger readers. It teaches them to respect diversity and encourages them to march to the beat of their own drummer no matter how different that may be.
—Veronica
Stargirl. This should be the standard for all young adult books. It’s realistic, inspiring and I bet that it’s a story everyone could relate to. Plus, there’s no sex scenes, and just one decent kiss. The book, is narrated by Leo Borlock’s perspective. He gives us an idea on how different Stargirl could be in a normal person’s point of view. Stargirl, being homeschooled, decides to come out of her shell. She enrolls at Mica High, and fortunately fails to blend in. For odd reasons, such as singing someone she barely knows a happy birthday, she stands out. Her schoolmates couldn’t help but find her odd. One time, Stargirl goes to a football match, which no one almost ever watches. She makes an exhibition of herself, by roaming around the football field (I imagine her like a fairy), until police had to come forward just for her to leave the field. That’s when Mica High attended every game onwards. Stargirl was a sight to watch. She was also recruited to the cheering squad. And again, she gives the readers another dose of her weirdness, by cheering enthusiastically, for everyone (that includes the other team). For others, we might find this hateful (just imagine your cheerleader cheering for the other team), but this proves the depths and lengths of Stargirl's naïvety and pure-heartedness. It’s actually amazing. Leo, is and always has been amazed by Stargirl. The feeling was mutual, and they become a couple. Leo enjoyed being with Stargirl. He was at peace, but then he noticed that the entire Mica High was shunning him as well. Leo Tolstoy was definitely no island, so he turned sad. He needed Stargirl, but he needed his peers as well. How Stargirl ever manages it, was a wonder to him. And Leo makes a choice. A terrible choice.And Stargirl, makes a terrible choice as well. She decides to be ”normal”.All of us are either Stargirls or were Stargirls. Everyone is a star. We are stars, some in little ways, and some in ways that no one can possibly miss them. But the thing is, we have what it takes to be a star. The problem is, how do we deal with the stars lodging in us. Some polishes their star to make it brighter, while some hide in the brightness of other stars to suppress their shine.After I finished this book, I was left with the same thought as Leo’s: Is she there? I wonder what she calls herself now. I wonder if she’s lost her freckles. I wonder if I’ll ever get another chance. I wonder, but I don’t despair. Though I have no family of my own, I do not feel alone. I know that I am being watched. The echo of her laughter is the second sunrise I awaken to each day, and at night I feel it is more than the stars looking down on me.And I have to say, we have to make Stargirls the new normal.
—Jasmin
