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will love Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book.  AmyElizabeth | Nov 5, 2009 |  I suffered from huge spoilers reading this, as I read //Love Stargirl// first. Even with that, I found the Stargirl in this book pretty annoying. And knowing exactly what would happen in the end might have cast a pall over the story. I just didn't like it as much as the sequel. I'd give this to someone looking for a quirky romance. (  ) francescadefreitas | Nov 1, 2009 | Summary: Leo tells the story of his junior year of high school. He meets Stargirl, a girl who is a completely unique and unashamed individual. He finds himself falling in love with this girl who cares more about others than herself. However, in the end he must choose between popularity and her love. Amazing book! Media: None (  ) mpitcairn06 | Oct 30, 2009 | I read this in a single day of laziness. Though full of memorable characters - Archie, Stargirl - the story itself is kind of cliche: new student at school acts weird, stirs up the other students, leaves. This is not to say that it's a bad story. It's well-written and thought-provoking; it may just not translate as well to adults. I have no doubt that I would have found it perfectly charming when I was 14. I hope the next person who reads it enjoys it as well. ( ) melydia | Oct 28, 2009 | Reviewed by Me for TeensReadToo.com Stargirl Caraway is an enigma. She's the type of girl that you either love or hate--with no room for any emotions in between. When she first comes to the high-school as a sophomore in small town Mica, Arizona, her name reverberates throughout the hallways. What kind of a name is Stargirl? Was she really home-schooled for all these years, or did she just magically appear in Mica? How can she seem so calm, so serene, why eating quietly alone in the lunchroom, then strumming her ukulele as if all alone? The boys in school are immediately struck by her quiet, unassuming beauty. The girls are both jealous of her innate naturalness and excited to have her enthusiasm in the school. For Leo Borlock, it's a mixture of fear and excitement that has him falling in love with the mysterious Stargirl--and a desire to see her on the Hot Seat, the in-school television show he runs with his best friend, Kevin. The kids at school embrace Stargirl--her quirkiness, her individuality, her enthusiasm and exuberance for everything she does. She discovers friends and cheerleading, and she's popular. Popular, that is, until she starts rooting for the opposition, determined to bring joy and happiness to everyone, not just her home team. Suddenly, she's not the popular girl that everyone wants to be around. The same individuality that was once embraced is now snubbed, literally, by almost everyone in school. Except for Leo, who's in love with the enigmatic Stargirl, a girl who whole-heartedly loves him back. Until Leo is forced to choose between the affections of an entire school full of classmates and the maybe-too-individual Stargirl. When faced with the choice of one person versus many, Leo might not be strong enough to make the right decision. Jerry Spinelli has penned a book that goes straight to the heart of wanting to fit in, of sometimes being too good to believe, of life and love and heartbreak and the desire to be different, yet the same as everyone else. STARGIRL is a pure delight, and you won't be able to help being drawn into this very believable story, and it's truly unbelievable characters. ( ) GeniusJen | Oct 13, 2009 |  no reviews | add a review
Amazon.com (ISBN 0440416779, Mass Market Paperback)"She was homeschooling gone amok." "She was an alien." "Her parents were circus acrobats." These are only a few of the theories concocted to explain Stargirl Caraway, a new 10th grader at Arizona's Mica Area High School who wears pioneer dresses and kimonos to school, strums a ukulele in the cafeteria, laughs when there are no jokes, and dances when there is no music. The whole school, not exactly a "hotbed of nonconformity," is stunned by her, including our 16-year-old narrator Leo Borlock: "She was elusive. She was today. She was tomorrow. She was the faintest scent of a cactus flower, the flitting shadow of an elf owl."In time, incredulity gives way to out-and-out adoration as the student body finds itself helpless to resist Stargirl's wide-eyed charm, pure-spirited friendliness, and penchant for celebrating the achievements of others. In the ultimate high school symbol of acceptance, she is even recruited as a cheerleader. Popularity, of course, is a fragile and fleeting state, and bit by bit, Mica sours on their new idol. Why is Stargirl showing up at the funerals of strangers? Worse, why does she cheer for the opposing basketball teams? The growing hostility comes to a head when she is verbally flogged by resentful students on Leo's televised Hot Seat show in an episode that is too terrible to air. While the playful, chin-held-high Stargirl seems impervious to the shunning that ensues, Leo, who is in the throes of first love (and therefore scornfully deemed "Starboy"), is not made of such strong stuff: "I became angry. I resented having to choose. I refused to choose. I imagined my life without her and without them, and I didn't like it either way." Jerry Spinelli, author of Newbery Medalist Maniac Magee, Newbery Honor Book Wringer, and many other excellent books for teens, elegantly and accurately captures the collective, not-always-pretty emotions of a high school microcosm in which individuality is pitted against conformity. Spinelli's Stargirl is a supernatural teen character--absolutely egoless, altruistic, in touch with life's primitive rhythms, meditative, untouched by popular culture, and supremely self-confident. It is the sensitive Leo whom readers will relate to as he grapples with who she is, who he is, who they are together as Stargirl and Starboy, and indeed, what it means to be a human being on a planet that is rich with wonders. (Ages 10 to 14) --Karin Snelson (retrieved from Amazon Fri, 24 Apr 2009 07:57:55 -0400) The first test round has been closed. Visit the Open Shelves Classification group for details. |
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Stargirl is the new girl in school – new and incredibly different. For one, she goes by the name “Stargirl.” She doesn’t dress or act the same as the other kids (as a cheerleader, she cheers even when the other team scores a point). She’s always doing things for other people and rarely cares what anyone else thinks of her. Until she meets Leo, that is.
This story is all about finding yourself and sticking to who you really are. It’s funny, intelligent, and heartwarming, and, best of all, comes recommended by me! This was a book that I delayed reading because I just wasn’t interested enough to take the time to read it. The audiobook format works great for books like this because I can have them done in a matter of hours while I’m doing other things. I love multitasking!
4 out of 5 stars because it’s not my favorite, but it’s still really good. (