Review: Stargirl

Title: Stargirl

Author: Jerry Spinelli

Date Read: 5/13/2020

Pages: 186

Publication Date: August 8th, 2000

Publisher: Scholastic

Format: e-book on kindle

Rating: 2 stars –

Synopsis (taken from GoodReads): A celebration of nonconformity; a tense, emotional tale about the fleeting, cruel nature of popularity–and the thrill and inspiration of first love. Ages 12+

Leo Borlock follows the unspoken rule at Mica Area High School: don’t stand out–under any circumstances! Then Stargirl arrives at Mica High and everything changes–for Leo and for the entire school. After 15 years of home schooling, Stargirl bursts into tenth grade in an explosion of color and a clatter of ukulele music, enchanting the Mica student body.

But the delicate scales of popularity suddenly shift, and Stargirl is shunned for everything that makes her different. Somewhere in the midst of Stargirl’s arrival and rise and fall, normal Leo Borlock has tumbled into love with her.

In a celebration of nonconformity, Jerry Spinelli weaves a tense, emotional tale about the fleeting, cruel nature of popularity–and the thrill and inspiration of first love.

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What I Liked About this Book:

Concept: I loved the idea of a coming of age story. The concept seemed absolutely wonderful, especially for the age it is targeted towards. There is definitely a need for young teens to understand that it is okay to be themselves.

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What I Disliked About this Book: 

Characters: I did not like the main character, or really the side characters, at all. They all seemed like the same character, stuck up and bland. I guess that was sort of the point, with a school that has no individuality, but it just did not work for me.

Writing: This is the second book that I have read from Jerry Spinelli, and I think I now know why I do not like his books, his writing style. It’s very bland and very basic, and it just does not work for me.

Execution: As I said, I absolutely adored the concept of expressing individuality. However, it was not executed well enough for me to really appreciate it enough.

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Overall, this book just did not work for me. Maybe it would have, had I read it ten years ago when I was eleven, but right now, there were too many problems for me to appreciate it.