Knopf Books - 2000
Reading Level: 8+ Number of Pages: 186 Genre: Realistic Fiction
A book Sense National Bestseller
A Publishers Weekly Bestseller
A Parents' Choice Gold Award Winner
A Bank Street College of Education Best Book of the Year
An ABC Children's Bookseller Choice
A New York Public Library Book for the Teen Age
Winner of the Young Hoosier Book Award
Winner of the Garden State Teen Book Award
Winner of the Arizona Young Readers' Award
Summary: Leo is a student at an average, and relatively small school in Arizona. He is smitten one day by a unique new student who calls herself Stargirl, although he wasn't so much smitten as he was awed in horror at her uniqueness. Stargirl wasn't like the other people at their school--she was ferociously . . . different. She sang to people on their birthdays, she cheered when people succeeded, and cried when they failed. Her ukulele and pet rat, symbols of her individuality, were embraced as a unique difference at the school, but were eventually shunned as strange or different. People who liked Stargirl for her actions cast her off, for at sporting events she cheered for BOTH teams. The people in the school begin to shun Stargirl.
At this point, Leo has become enamored with Stargirl, but notices that when he spends time with her at school the other students shun them. Stargirl shows Leo that she is not as affected by the actions or words of others, even when they seem so stinging. Leo discovers that he must choose between the opinions of others and this strangely unique girl.
At the end of the story there is a prom. Because he is afraid of being laughed at, Leo doesn't ask Stargirl to the prom, but she shows up anyway. She is dressed in a bright, sunflower yellow dress, and leads the school in a crazy and fun dance, all around the building and into the fields beyond. At this point it appears that many in the school have overcome their need to shun Stargirl, and that she may be able to develop some acceptance. One girl, Hillari, slaps Stargirl for "ruining" the dance, and Stargirl returns the gesture by giving her a hug and a kiss. From that night on nobody ever saw Stargirl again. Her family had moved, and Stargirl was gone, but she left a void in the hearts of the students at the school, especially with Leo.
"In the Sonoran Desert there are ponds. You could be standing in the middle of one and not know it, becasue the ponds are usually dry. Nor would you know that inches below your feet, frogs are sleeping, their heartbeats down to once or twice per minute. They lie dormant and waiting, these mud frogs, for without water their lives are incomplete, they are not fully themselves. . .
It was wonderful to see, wonderful to be in the middle of we mud frogs awakening all around. We were awash in tiny attentions. Small gestures, words, empathies thought to be extinct came to life. For years the strangers among us had passed sullenly in the hallways; now we looked, we nodded, we smiled. If someone got an A, others celebrated too. If someone sprained an ankle, others felt the pain. We discovered the color of each other's eyes."
My Impressions: This book is a deeply touching discussion of individuality and nonconformity, but it is mostly about how we treat those who are different. In Stargirl's case, "different" certainly meant "unique," but the students failed to see that in her until she was nearly gone.
Parent's Guide: No huge issues. The students are very rude to Stargirl.
Recommendations: I STRONGLY recommend this book.
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