Module 7: Stargirl

Summary: Stargirl Carraway shows up at Mica High School one day, and she couldn't been any more different if she tried. She plays the ukulele, she wears clothes straight out of the prairie, and she even carries her pet, a rat, on her shoulder. At a high school that is all about conformity, Stargirl is just plain weird. Leo, however, thinks there is something just a little intriguing about how different she is. She is new, different, and well, refreshing. Eventually the rest of the school, despite Hillari's attempts to stop it, jumps on the Stargirl train. They are fascinated, wondering exactly what she might do next. Boy does she keep them guessing! From running onto the football field during a game to cheering for the opposing basketball team- Stargirl never follows the rules. One day, however, she pushes things to far. In the clutch game of the basketball team's winning season, Stargirl rushes to attend to an injured player from the opposing team. She cheers as the other team almost crushes her own Mica Electrons. From that day on, it is said that the team lost its steam, and the school lost their love for the girl who was different. Leo didn't feel the same way. Although embarrassed by the shunning they received, he couldn't help but love her. Trying to help, Leo begs Stargirl to be like everyone else. After all, why wouldn't she want to! Stargirl, well, Susan now, tries it out. She dresses and acts the part, even competing in a speech contest as Susan. But eventually she realizes being someone else is not the way to happiness, nor is it the way to the popularity she thought she would have. Stargirl realizes the best thing to be is exactly what she had always been, herself. Leo learns this lesson too, although he learns it too late, losing the best thing he had ever had in the process.

My Thoughts:
I thoroughly enjoyed Stargirl. I thought that Jerry Spinelli's characters were developed in a way that left the reader hanging on every word. Each person embodied personality traits that middle schoolers experience on a daily basis. The desire for acceptance, the desire to be oneself, the desire to lead, the desire to follow. It's all there, expressed in an engaging storyline of the timeless debate- Should I be myself, or the person they want me to be? However, while did enjoy the book, I found myself caught up in the title of "realistic fiction." With every page I found myself saying, "There is no way this would ever happen. Ever." I think the only thing realistic about this story is that the children are in school and struggling with their identity. The rest, in my opinion, is just too far fetched to be considered realistic, even to a middle schooler. I probably would have enjoyed this book even more without feeling the need to analyze the probability of this reality.

Their Thoughts:
Excerpt from Ilene Cooper's Booklist Review-
"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."

Awards and Accolades-
A Parents Choice Gold Award Winner
A Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year
An ALA Top Ten Best Book for Young Adults
An ABBY Book of the Year Finalist
An Oprah Kids' Reading List Selection

My Ideas:
I was able to use this book in a book talk with the middle school students at my school. As a military school we have an influx of new students every August and January, and sometimes in between. The students enjoyed the preview of this book about a girl who has been in the same position they have been- the new kid. They related easily to Stargirl's desire to be herself wherever she was. This is great book middle school book talks and book clubs!