Stargirl

Rating:
Summary: Student Favorite
Review: I teach sixth grade Language Arts and was hesitant to read it aloud to my students because I had mostly boys in my class. The students rated it their favorite book of last year and 90% said that they would recommend it to a friend. If it's a hit with 12 year-olds, it's a hit with anyone!

Rating:
Summary: Extraordinary, but still so real
Review: I would recommend this book to almost anyone. Spinelli weaves an incredible story of unconventional behavior, first love, and so much more. The pictures of high school life are so right-on it's unreal. The characters were so real, that I felt like I knew them personally. There's always someone like the snobby Hillari, the rejected Dori, and the confused Leo. Stargirl is that extraordinary person that everyone wants to be just a little more like, but that can scare people...
Regardless of age, gender, and interests, I think everyone could find a little something in Stargirl.

Rating:
Summary: Stargirl
Review: A book I would not recommend. Just that a character is odd and out-of-place (strange) does not make a good story. And - all else to make it a good book is missing.

Rating:
Summary: beautifully original
Review: Stargirl is magical. I read this book because of the astounding reviews it received expecting something pretty good. Insted I got something INCREDIBLY good. Every teenager, regardless of gender or age should stop what they're doing right now and read this novel. You will do anything but regret it.

Rating:
Summary: Five Stars for Spinelli's Stargirl
Review: She was like nothing anyone had seen before. They gawked at her as if she were an alien in their midst. She seemed not to notice, as she was wrapped up in the moment, appreciating the unnoticed small details of the daily grind at Mica High School. Stargirl was her name. She played the ukelele in the cafeteria, singing happy birthday for each student's special day; she wore outfits no one else would be caught dead in (like pioneer dresses and kimonos); she brought her pet rat to school, mourned at strangers' funerals and went out of her way to recognize the large and small accomplishments of anyone and everyone in their small town.

Sixteen-year-old Leo, like most of the student body, is stunned at first, but then finds himself falling in love with Stargirl. It is through Leo's voice that the tale of Stargirl unfolds. After the initial reaction to our unique heroine, she is not only accepted but adored and imitated by the student body. Unfortunately her popularity is short lived. After she is recruited to be a cheerleader (the ultimate in high-school acceptance), she commits the unforgivable crime of cheering for the opposing basketball team! Stargirl seems baffled that it is not acceptable to cheer for someone's success and to support them in their difficulties, even if it is an opponent or a stranger. This unleashes a spiraling chain of events that leads to the ostracism of both Stargirl and Starboy (Leo).

Leo is so smitten with his new love and his new appreciation of simple pleasures, that at first he does not notice the change around him. Events come to a head when Stargirl makes an appearance on the student television program Hot Seat, where she ends up being the victim of a group verbal abuse. The episode is never aired, and Leo is deeply affected by the attack of his peers on Stargirl, with whom his identity has become entwined.

Stargirl illustrates the power and depth of peer pressure and the conflicting teenage desires to be an individual and to conform. Stargirl's behavior is almost utopic; while she lacks any supernatural powers, she is too good to be true: kinder, more caring, more spirited, more creative, more confident, more in tune with nature, and more articulate than most of us can hope to be. But as readers, we see the people and events through Leo's eyes, and he is more human in his fallibility. And like Leo, readers will be touched by Stargirl, and hopefully find a new appreciation for the unnoticed details and the uniqueness in others and within ourselves.

The audio version was narrated by John Ritter. Ritter's voice communicates the full range of emotion that flows through Leo: disbelief, attraction, enlightenment, alienation, infatuation, self-doubt, anger, joy, confusion and regret. Boys might be turned off by the title and cover art of Stargirl, but the story should appeal to both males and females ages ten and older.

Rating:
Summary: An enjoyable and thought-provoking read
Review: Leo Borlock isn't quite sure what to make of the new girl at school. She's different in every way he can think of. She dresses in prairie clothes, brings a rat to school, plays the ukelele during lunch, and doesn't seem to care (or even notice) what others think of her. But Stargirl Caraway soon captures Leo's heart.

The only problem is, she's riding the mysterious waves of peer opinion. First, she's a freak, then she becomes popular, then she's a freak again. Leo doesn't want to care, but he does, and tries to use his influence with Stargirl to make her more "normal."

What makes this book so interesting is Leo's battle with himself. As he deals with his choices and their aftermath, the reader gets insight into herd mentality, non-conformism, and the power of choices and consequences. The book deals with hard issues, but is not hopeless. It's a great book to inspire discussion about the power of a peer group. There were moments that didn't ring entirely true to me, but overall I felt the book was well-written and thought-provoking.

Rating:
Summary: Amazing& Realistic
Review: I have read all the other reviews-and I agree with all of them! But also, the true reason that I truly love this book, is how it captures the true esssence of High School, in only 192 pages! If I had to write a book about High School, it would probably never end! That is why I love it so much. Its not fake, or shall I say unrealistic, its very possible! What I mean by possible is that it could happen somewhere. I seriously encourage all people to read this book, and I promise you will most definitely like it!

Rating:
Summary: Dust of the earth or stardust?
Review: "Stargirl" is billed as adolescent fiction, but the story is timeless ... it is a portrait of the unfettered human heart and a reminder that the essence of mankind is nothing less than grand and glorious "starstuff." If ever there was a book to help us remember that each of us is unique in all the world yet inexorably tied to our fellow man, this is it. I'm an old girl in my fifties, and I've given this book to people I love who range in age from 15 to 70. If you're interested in big, important ideas that are simply and eloquently written, buy this book.

Rating:
Summary: 5 Stars for Stargirl
Review: A Great, great book that is funny and heartbreaking. I would would recommend this book to anyone who wants to read something that will make you laugh and cry.

Rating:
Summary: One of the Best Books I've Ever Read
Review: Just as Stargirl captured Leo with one smile, Stargirl the book captured me with just one paragraph. Jerry Spinelli writes an incredible story of two high school junior who fall in love and deal with embarrasment of one another, and the disapproval of their peers. Spinelli really made me feel like I was Leo. All the disicions Leo made felt like I made them, and that I wanted to fix them but I had to keep reminding myself that it was a book I was reading. In the end I was the thought of "How would the school be without her?" I pictured a quiet, lonely school in the middle of a dessert, and the part where Leo recieves a porocupine necktie in the end, was perfect.