Stargirl

Reader reviewed by Future Teacher

Despite its raving reviews, Stargirl is rather dull, predictable, and impractical in its depiction of today's high school culture. This is particularly due to Stargirl's overplayed naivete--although the message to embrace individuality is certainly important, Spinelli attempts to transmit it through an unreliable main character too unrealistically oblivious to pressure from her peers. Further, the novel fails to explore the perils of conformity in relation to larger, more complicated social issues like diversity.  Despire its underlying call to celebrate difference and condemn intolerance, the story seemingly forgets to include characters of other ethnicities--those who are deeply affected by pressures to conform and suppress their individuality on a daily basis. Stargirl merely treads the shallow surface of adolescent life, never really exploring deeper, more pertinent concerns that would invite for rich critical analysis.