Stargirl

Rating:
Summary: Free Spirits are Hard to Come By these Days
Review: Stargirl is one of the novels of the year that I couldn't help thinking about the other day. It was one of the hardest books I ever finished, and not because it was written in a difficult manner, not because it was boring, because it was one of my favorite books, I loved the characters too much to part with them.

In this book, Spinelli uses several techniques to make Stargirl stand apart from everyone. From the way she dresses and behaves to the way she brings her pets to school with her, this girl stands apart from everyone.

The lead character, a quiet observer, falls in love with Stargirl and they start to date. After endless ridicule, Stargirl's friendly, free-spirited nature is crushed as she tries to become "Evelyn Everybody."

The story offers an important rule: You have to be who are inside to be happy. No clothing can hide who you are and self-suppression is over rated! Though the book makes home schooled kids look like freaks (we're not! We're really not!), it also displays that perhaps it's best to follow your own path instead of the one everyone else is.

Rating:
Summary: An amazingly fruitful read
Review: A truly superb tale of unconformity to its extreme. Though I highly doubt you will ever come across a girl so different as Stargirl. One constantly wonders what she's thinking in her heart. How can she bring herself to do this and that? does she really not care about what others think of her? these are some of the questions bound to be raised in the reader's mind.
The intricate weaving of a story of first love into the tale just balances the mood. We want Leo to get his girl and yet, can't bear to see StarGirl lose herself in her quest to try to become 'normal' because Leo told her to.
Only flaw? I don't about you guys but I found it a little too draggy and slow. In plain terms, it was that tad boring.
But considering I wasn't expecting much, I read it in one seating. that says alot, too.

Rating:
Summary: The First Book That Made Me Cry
Review: Well known for his stories on universal problems such as racism and peer-pressure, Newberry Award winning author Jerry Spinelli has done it again with his latest book Stargirl. A story of popularity and normality, Stargirl captures the reader's attention throughout the entire story. Though Stargirl seems almost imaginary, the other characters become disturbingly real throughout the story, as you come to dislike them more and more.

Set in Arizona's Mica High, Stargirl is told through the eyes of high-school junior Leo Borlock. When Stargirl Carraway, a new sophomore, arrives on campus, rumors spread around before the first bell rings. 'She was home schooling gone amok. She was an alien. . .Her parents were circus acrobats' (14). However, one thing is certain, Stargirl is different. Shunned at first for her differences, Stargirl soon becomes the most popular girl in school. Everyone loves her, especially Leo. Yet soon, as Stargirl's differences become more and more apparent, everyone turns on her.

This is the first book that ever made me cry, as Stargirl shows just how low popularity can make people sink. This is a wonderful story of a charismatic girl who simply wants to be accepted. Though the ending keeps the reader hanging, it leaves him or her with a new perspective on what is ordinary, what is different, and what is accepted in a high-school society.

Rating:
Summary: Reach for the Stars
Review: I thought this was a great book! There was always an exciting new turn just around the corner!
It all starts out one day in Mica High, everything is normal. But after one big change it will take a giant turn to
either delight or destruction!
If you want to know more about this book, check it out at the library or buy it at a book store and read it yourself to find out!

Rating:
Summary: Stargirl
Review: Stargirl is a book about a girl who comes to a school & is totally different from everyone else. She plays the ukilele &
loves to dance in the rain. Some people like Hillari think she is not real. But unfortunaly she isn't. I give it 5 *'s for creativity.

Rating:
Summary: Magical!!
Review: This was one book I could not put down! It's about a home-schooled girl, Stargirl, entering high school for the first time. It's told through the eyes of Leo, a fellow schoolmate. Stargirl is an unusual, free-spirited, loving girl who is free of pretensions and malice. She is very child-like in expressing herself as she truly feels and believes. At school lunchtimes, she plays the ukelele and sings to the students. She always remembers their birthdays. On holidays, she leaves a treat on each desk. At first people avoid her because she's so odd, then they grow to like and admire her. People in the community (strangers to Stargirl), who have been in the hospital and return home, find a plant on their doorstep. She decorates her school desk like a table with a tablecloth and vase. There's also a wonderful, elderly, retired teacher who opens his house to the kids, and they have talks and share their feelings and ideas with him. Stargirl touched me, because she is able to be herself completely, without caring how other people think or what they say, also because she's very loving. I found myself wishing I could have the courage to be myself like she did.

Rating:
Summary: not for the realism, but for the intrique and message
Review: The only other Spinelli book I've read is Maniac MacGee, which was pretty good. I checked Stargirl out from the library one day and read it. I found it to be an extremely powerful book that sends us all a message. Remember in fourth grade when teachers would encourage you to do "random acts of kindness"? Well this is basically the theme and basis of this great well written novel. What it lacks in realism, it makes up for in fantasy and the perfect relationships that develop between characters. Despite having less-than-believable transitions between events, Stargirl is something to be read with...keeping in mind that taking this book at face value will only diminish its greatness.

Rating:
Summary: Five Stars!
Review: Stargirl was a great book. I give this book five stars. I really couldn't put it down. If you like Maniac Magee, then you will definitely love this book.

Stargirl was a very unusual girl who had trouble fitting in. The way she would try to get people's attention is very unusual. She would sing to people on their birthdays and play her ukulele. Everyone startd to like her, but she started to be a little TO nice to people and everyone turned on her except, her boyfriend, Leo. I really think that everyone should read this book. This book might not sound that good now but I don't want to give to much of it away.

Rating:
Summary: Stargirl
Review: Stargirl is, in my opinion, a very well writin book. A girl named Stargirl, who has been home-schooled til now is entering a public high school. Everybody in the shool talks, acts, and dresses a like. Stargirl is nothing like the other kids. Stargirl dresses in old 1920's flapper dresses and sings happy birthday to people while playing the ukulele. The other main character is Leo who is just like everybody else.

In the begining of the book no one likes Stargirl because she is so different. Leo finds her interesting. She wins over the school at football games and makes Leo fall in love with her. At a basketball game she upsets the school so much she once again becomes an outcast. (...)

Rating:
Summary: Stargirl
Review: The book I read was called Stargirl. I thought that it was a good book. It was about this new girl at school named Stargirl who everyone thinks is really weird. She plays her ukelele at lunch every day and sings people happy birthday. That is one of the reasons they think she is weird. Another reason is because she always dresses in these weird clothes. She also starts to have a crush on the main charactor named Leo. I would reccomend this book to teenagers. I would because anybody younger then that wouldn't understand the book. Then anybody older then that probably wouldn't like the book. I enjoyed this book and I know you would too. So I recommend that you read this book.