Review Detail

Reader reviewed by Dede

Stargirl is about a girl (whose given name is Susan) who marches to the beat of her own drum.  She is an inspiring character and I found myself wanting to be a little more like her.  She has been homeschooled until now (10th grade) when she comes to the high school in Arizona.  Everyone notices her because she does things her own way.  She dresses differently, she meditates, she has a pet rat, she brings her ukelele to school and sings happy birthday to people.  She is just an independent soul.  She gives people gifts without hoping for acknowledgement.  She is nice.  At first everyone likes her and she becomes popular.  She is invited to be a cheerleader.  But then it backfires.  Schoolmates get mad when she cheers for the other team, blaming her for their losses.  They turn their backs on her, all except Leo.  Leo is mesmerized by her and they start dating.  However, when Leo realizes that she is being shunned, and therefore he is also by association, he cracks and wants her to be more like everyone else.  She tries, but it fails.  She goes back to being herself but the damage is done already.  Leo totally disappoints me in this book.  He's not really there for her when she needs him, it's not unconditional love and has a huge effect on Stargirl.  There were parts in this book when my heart hurt for Stargirl, and this is truly a heartfelt book for teens everywhere.  The only thing that didn't sit well for me in this book is that Stargirl had been homeschooled in this town for a long time, and she was always this wacky, true to herself person, and supposedly noone noticed her around town?  It wasn't until she came to school that people paid attention?  Other than that this book is a winner.