Module 7: Stargirl

Summary:
Susan Caraway, aka Stargirl, was a mysterious, earthy creature who bestowed her presence on Mica High School in Arizona. She dressed in long, flowy skirts and played "Happy Birthday" on the ukelele to people in the cafeteria. She left random gifts for strangers, carried around a pet rat, set coins out on the street for people to find, cheered for the other basketball team, and left presents for fellow students in her homeroom class on special occasions. She didn't fit in with the crowd at Mica High who were into acting and dressing the same. She was truly one of a kind. At first people at school really liked her and then they started to turn at a basketball game where she ran to render aid for a basketball player on the opposite team. Stargirl meets Leo who becomes her boyfriend, the narrator of the story, and he convinces her to try to be normal. It doesn't work, Stargirl is miserable, and goes back to being her old self. Students begin to like her again at the end of the story when she shows up for the Ocotillo Ball and starts the bunny hop. After the dance Stargirl moves to Minnesota with her family without saying goodbye. Fifteen years later Leo still thinks about Stargirl and all of the random acts of kindness she showered everyone with.

Reference:
Spinelli, J. (2000). Stargirl. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.

My Impressions of the Book:
In Mica High the people who are normal are the ones who conform. Stargirl is different because she doesn't fit into the normal teenage mold. She is uncomfortable to be around because she is not like everyone else, nor does she care to be. This books celebrates being unique and an individual and being proud of who you are. Years later at a reunion people still spoke of Stargirl and the impression she made onm everyone. Her random acts of kindness leave a mark on Leo, probably forever. Spinelli's book probably hits home with a lot of teens and pre-teens that are too shy to stand out of the crowd. Spinelli's book is an enjoyable read, but Stargirl's character is almost too strange and "out there" at times for my taste.

Reviews:
Cooper, I. (2000, June 1). The Booklist, Vol. 96, No. 19/20.
Gr. 6-9. Sixteen-year-old Leo recounts Stargirl's sojourn at Mica High in an allegorical story that is engagingly written but overreaches. Everyone notices Stargirl when she comes to school. She wears a granny gown, strums a ukulele, and sings "Happy Birthday" to kids in the cafeteria. She also carries around a pet rat. Her classmates veer between ignoring her and being discreetly fascinated by her weirdness--dancing when there's no music, speaking in class of trolls and stars. Slowly, Stargirl attracts a following, especially after she gives a spellbinding speech in an oratorical contest and singlehandly stirs up school spirit. But her intense popularity is short-lived as, predictably, the teens turn on her. Leo is attracted by Stargirl and her penchant for good works. But just about the time they get together, the rest of the school is shunning her, and to his confusion and despair, Leo eventually turns his back on Stargirl, too. Spinelli firmly captures the high-school milieu, here heightened by the physical and spiritual barrenness of an Arizona location, a new town where people come to work for technology companies and the school team is called the Electrons. Dialogue, plot, and supporting cast are strong: the problem here is Stargirl herself. She may have been homeschooled, may not have seen much TV, but despite her name, she has lived on planet earth for 15 years, and her naivete is overplayed and annoying. When Leo tells her that not everyone likes having somebody with a ukulele sing "Happy Birthday" to them, she is shocked. That she has not noticed she is being shunned is unbelievable, and, at times, readers may feel more sympathy for the bourgeois teens than the earnest, kind, magical Stargirl. That's too bad, because Spinelli's point about the lure and trap of normalcy is a good one. But to make it real, Stargirl needed to have at least one foot on the ground.

Uses in a library:
This book could be featured in an author study as one of the highlighted books. It would make a good books discussion read. Students could discuss conforming versus individuality.