She is so different that at first the student body does not know what to make of her. Leo learns that up until this point, she has been home schooled, but even that doesn't seem to excuse her strange behavior for example, she comes to school in strange outfits kimonos, buckskin, 1920's flapper clothes, and pioneer clothes. The story picks up four years later with the arrival of Stargirl Caraway. The word begins with a brief introduction to Leo at the age of twelve, and chronicles his move from his home state of Pennsylvania to Arizona.īefore the move, his Uncle Pete gives Leo a porcupine necktie as a farewell present, inspiring him to collect more like it.Īfter his collection is mentioned in a local newspaper, Leo receives a second porcupine necktie for his birthday, left anonymously by Stargirl. Stargirl is a young adult novel written by American author Jerry Spinelli, and first published in 2000. You can find this review and more on my blog Miss Print Spinelli creates a compelling, utterly new narrative here (with a charmingly memorable heroine). He captures Leo's fascination with Stargirl as well as his equivocation as he is forced to choose between Stargirl and "the crowd." Spinelli's writing throughout the story is perfect. Technically speaking I love everything about this book: the characters, the story, the cover art. As the school moves from fascination to adoration and, finally, to disdain Leo finds himself in an impossible position: forced to choose between the girl he loves and his entire lifestyle. Unfortunately, high school students don't always believe in (or appreciate) magic like Stargirl's. In the story, Leo soon realizes that Stargirl might be someone he could love. The kind of magic where you still believe things can be wondrous. She represents the kind of magic more people need in their lives: to appreciate the little things, to dare to be different, to be kind to strangers. In our minds we tried to pin her to corkboard like a butterfly, but the pin merely went through and away she flew."Īfter finishing this book and recently reading Love, Stargirl (Spinelli's newly released sequel), I have my own explanation: Stargirl is magical. She was the faintest scent of a cactus flower, the flitting shadow of an elf owl. Formerly home-schooled, Stargirl is a sophomore like no one Leo (or any of the other Mica students) has ever met before:
On the first day the name on everyone's lips is Stargirl. The story continues when Leo is a junior in high school. Until his fourteenth birthday when an unknown someone presented Leo with his second tie, someone who was watching from the sidelines. For two years, Leo's collection stood at one tie. Around the time of his move, Leo decided to start collecting porcupine neckties-no easy task, especially in Mica.
The story starts with Leo Borlock, who moved to Mica, Arizona at the age of twelve. I'll say it again: Stargirl is a classic. Classics are the books you want to immerse yourself in: the books you wish you could live in with the characters that you wish were your friends. It needs to be a book that you enjoy more every time you read it or talk about it. A classic also needs to have memorable writing and characters. This designation raises the question: What makes a book (any book) a classic? For me it means a book that is timeless something you can read years and years after it was written without the book losing its vibrancy. Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli is a young adult classic (maybe even a children's classic but that's really a cataloguing issue that I am ill-equipped to discuss).
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