Spinelli's Stargirl
Young Adult Fiction about Individuality and Acceptance
Stargirl Carraway is WEIRD - at least that what her Mica Area High School classmates think, except Leo Borlock - he mostly just wants her to leave him alone!
"She was illusive. She was today. She was tomorrow. She was the faintest scent of a cactus flower, the flitting shadow of an elf owl. We did not know what to make of her. In our minds we tried to pin her to a corkboard like a butterfly, but the pin merely went through and away she flew" (Chapter 3, p.15). Though not really the protagonist of the novel, Spinelli goes to great lengths to perfectly describe the “illusive” Stargirl. A stunning YA novel about individuality and acceptance, Stargirl has not only become a quick favorite of many teens, but has also spawned a sequel, Love, Stargirl, in which Stargirl herself writes letters to Leo, in which she give Leo, and the readers, a window into her life.
Synopsis
Leo Borlock is the new kid in town, and he figures he’ll the one everyone is looking at the first day of school at Mica Area High School – boy was he wrong! “Stargirl” Carraway shows up to school, looking like she walked right out of a storybook, wearing kimonos, flapper dresses and buckskin, just to name a few. She is obsessed with doing anonymous good deeds for people, and loves serenading her schoolmates on their birthday in the cafeteria by strumming on her ukulele. And now she has set her sites on Leo. It’s obvious she has a crush on him, but he just wishes she’d stop drawing attention to him – or does he? As the novel continues and follows Stargirl and her rat Cinnamon through their adventures, and eventually Leo as he gets dragged along, many readers begin to wish there was a Stargirl at their school, just to make life a little brighter and a little more interesting. Things in Stargirl and Leo’s strange relationship eventually come to a head, however, and of them have some very important decisions to make.
Characters
Leo Borlock moves to Arizona from Pennsylvania when he is twelve and starts at Mica Area High School. He would just assume go unnoticed besides a good friend or two, but Stargirl is not about to let that happen. “Stargirl” Carraway is also new to Mica, but she has slightly different plans. Stargirl tries to positively influence the life of everyone she meets, and actually comes quite close to succeeding. Kevin Quinlan is Leo’s best friend, and host of the student-run interview program “Hot Seat” which ends up becoming an integral part of Stargirl and Leo’s story. Finally, Archibald “Archie” Brubaker, a retired professor friend and confidant of Stargirl’s brings an added dose of charm, especially with his cactus friend Senor Saguro.
Author
Jerry Spinelli has been writing YA fiction since 1982 when his first novel, Space Station Seventh Grade came out. Since then, he has written some of the most popular and influential young adult fiction of the last 25 years, such as Maniac Magee, Fourth Grade Rats, and Who Ran My Underwear Up the Flagpole. Spinelli graduated from John Hopkins with an M.A., just before serving in the U.S. Navy Reserve for six years. He has won the Newbery Honor twice for Maniac Magee (1991) and Wringer (1998).
