Stargirl

Rating:
Summary: She's endearing...and annoying.
Review: Stargirl is a character who is obviously meant to be sweet and endearing. Her flaws are passed off as quirks.

Realistically, though, she is a pretty annoying character. And creepy too. She knows all the birthdays of everyone in her class. She takes pictures of neighbours while they aren't looking. While she is portrayed as more innocent and naive than disturbed, one can't help but feel the need to give her a shake.

Obviously, Spinelli intends this to be a fantasy of sorts. But I feel he betrays his message of treating "different" people with more respect by making his Stargirl character too "saintly" in personality. Everyone is flawed, even those who are "different". And all of them are never purely wholesome like Stargirl is.

Yet when Leo finally does get to know her, Stargirl seems to exhibit a mischievous and sarcastic side. She understands sarcasm, and she seems to know how Leo is feeling. He also finds she has a "pebble wagon" which measures how happy she is. If the wagon is nearly empty, she's sad. If it's almost full, she's happy. That's a great, honest scene right there. Spinelli has her become more realistic, which makes you wonder if her shenanigans really ARE an act. How can she be so perceptive and street-savvy around Leo but be totally naive about the feelings of everyone else? Personally I enjoyed the Stargirl-Leo moments much better than her school moments, which seemed to ring false to me.

Personally I buy the idea that Stargirl is more of a lonely and somewhat disturbed person needing to be someone else in public rather than the purely wholesome saint Spinelli wants her to be. Because it's quite obvious to me she is a different person when she is with Leo than when she is at school. She's both wiser AND quirkier around Leo than she is at school (where's she's just somewhat idiotic), and a much more likeable person too. I prefer the more mischievous Stargirl around Leo over the dense and overly saintly Stargirl in school.

That said, it's well written and is entertaining either way, even if I have strong disagreements with the author about Stargirl.

Rating:
Summary: Great Book!!
Review: I loved the book Star Girl. It had good morals and I couldn't put it down. I read it in 3 days and never wanted the book to end. It is about a boy named Leo and a girl named Star Girl. Stargirl is different from everybody else, but she doesn't care, until no one talks to her anymore and Leo says no one likes her. She tries to change to be liked. You will have to read the book to find out what happened with Star Girl and Leo. I recomend this book to all ages and hope you all love it to.

Rating:
Summary: Wow
Review: Wow is all i can say. This book was so beautifully written. it had so much meaning to me. Stargirl was so interesting, mysterious, she just was everything everyone wants everyone to be. Leo was cool too. He told the school through his actual eyes, and he told it so wonderfully and real. I love the story and meaning to the book. This new and mysterious girl comes to this boring and plain school, where she makes a difference and brings life to it! then she is shunned, for little things, like cheering for the other basketball team--and she was the one who helped to bring in more people to watch, because of her amazing cheering! There is courage, strength, heartfelt entertainment, and everything that revolves around love and being your own person. I loved it!!!

Rating:
Summary: Excellent beach book
Review: A very fast read, and fun story. Everyone has met or seen someone like Stargirl, the kind of teen who is her own leader and follows nobody. Then there's Leo, who is more like your average teen, worried about what others think, etc. I liked getting swept up into their world, yet in many ways it's the same world we all inhabit. Other fast reads like this one: Durable Goods, and An Egg on Three Sticks.

Rating:
Summary: Spinelli has NO taste
Review: Oh my gosh, this book was awful. It was so bad I wanted to cry. I'm an avid reader and an accomplished writer, so I know what I'm talking about. It seems like Spinelli just finally ran out of ideas...and you can tell with this book. People rave that's it's inspirational and beautiful, but they only say that because it's different and they really don't know what they think of it. The truth is, it's totally out of whack. Stargirl is a very weak character, and Leo is weaker. All this book does is shows how awful and cruel people are today. Don't waste your money on this book. Read Harry Potter instead. Spinelli's books are a waste of paper.

Rating:
Summary: Mom & Daughter Both think: Stargirl's Cool!
Review: My daughter and I got this audio book to listen to in the car on a long trip. I (Mom) chose it because the main character reminded me of my daughter---kind of different than the other girls, feels left out sometimes, but very creative and a free spirit. My daughter is kind of hard to please, so I wasn't sure what she would think. She loved it!!! I liked it too. She says: she liked how Stargirl was connected with the earth. She also thinks it had some funny parts--like the porcupine necktie! She says "It was awesome". My daughter hoped there was a sequel. We both recommend this as a great book for Mom & daughter trips.

Rating:
Summary: beautiful
Review: about a girl who finds a way into everybody's heart and touches the life of everyone that she meets!
I want to be a Star Girl!
She makes life beautiful :)

Rating:
Summary: 5 Stars for Stargirl
Review: Stargirl, by Jerry Spinelli, is a novel that manifests nonconformity and popularity, and is as entertaining to a reader as Mica High School initially reacted toward that strange new student focused in this novel. That student called herself Stargirl. I enjoyed reading about this character and her unusual behavior, and the difference that she had from the rest of society would make me ponder with three of the four W's. Who was this 'Stargirl'? Where did she come from? And why was she acting the way that she did? These were only the general questions that sparked a lot of my potential interest and curiosity for this book. She is extremely unique, generous and unselfish that it is weird and uncanny. In her homeroom class, she decorates her desk with a vase of flowers, begins such random subjects such as speaking of seahorses and stars, sings Happy Birthday to students in the cafeteria and sends special cards to strangers. She also brings her pet rat to school, dances in the rain for the world to see and roots for the opposing basketball team. There were even more abnormal things that she did. That's what I believe makes this novel so interesting. It was almost equally entertaining to see how people were affected. At times they would love her and at times they would hate her. Toward the beginning of the novel, many tried to imitate her. Spinelli described the students' reactions and conversations concerning Stargirl very well. In talking about affecting other people, Leo Borlock, or the other protagonist and narrator of this story, had a conversation with Stargirl about how, at the time, she was negatively affecting other people because she wasn't acting normal. In this section of the book, I especially liked the humor because the conversation basically consisted of Stargirl's "Whys" and "Why Nots" and Leo's 'having to explain everything' responses. There were also many other comical encounters and other feelings that I could experience throughout this book. When Stargirl invited Leo to her house for dinner one evening, I felt it would be interesting to see where she lived and what her parents would be like, because she was so strange. Stargirl reminded me of Clarisse McClellan from Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury. They are both unique in personality, they introduce unimportant thoughts, do things freely and are nonconformists. They lead their own way of life contrary to the rest of society, and they are not too far apart in age as well. Stargirl was better than I expected. I was surprised to the start of this book because I predicted that Stargirl would be the narrator. The narrator was a boy, and his name was Leo Borlock. I was also amazed to see Stargirl enter the novel so quickly and to the fact that she was actually called Stargirl. I really enjoyed this book, and I wanted to read it every chance I got. I am glad I read it because it was one of the books that I've seen and heard about often.

Rating:
Summary: One of best books, If not the best.
Review: This book is a book you cannot put down from beginning to end. I read this all in one day and I am not much of a reader. I'm glad I picked this up. Spinelli really makes you feel like you are going through what the characters are going through. I HIGHLY recommend reading this book.

Rating:
Summary: Starry Eyed over Stargirl!
Review: Stargirl is the quintessential book about developing "self" identity in a world full of plastic, artificial shams (all the other teenagers, wannabes, queen bees, jocks, nerds, etcetra). Stargirl (Susan) values authenticity over "normal and pretentious". This book is ideal for teenagers and others who have not yet come to grips with being themselves. Too bad Spinelli did not have Susan stating, "You become emancipated from the "group" when you care less about what others think of you and more about what you think of others".