Book Review: Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli

'Stargirl' is deliciously original and beautifully written. It deals with
non-conformity and what happens when you dare to be be different. It deals with
peer pressure, bravery and being true to yourself. The narrative written from a
teenage boy's point of view and yet the whole book is about a girl who calls
herself Stargirl.

Stargirl dares to be different. Everything about her is
totally unique and extraordinary. She has a different name, she wears unusual
clothes, she brings herukelele and her pet rat to school, she sings Happy
Birthday to complete strangers and sends people she doesn't know cards and
presents for numerous reasons. She even puts a vase with flower in it on her
desk at school. She is a wonderful character, so mysterious and enigmatic and
totally quirky and more than a little strange. Despite being an outcast one
minute and then popular the next and finding herself the subject of widespread
dislike among the other students, Stargirl remains true to herself.

Be true to yourself, be who you really are and be happy with yourself! Or conform to the norm, be who everyone else expects you to be and make everyone else happy? These are the questions the book asks.

This book doesn't do a Disney, telling you to be true to yourself and be who you really
are inside so that you can have a happy ending. Instead this book deals with the
consequences of being yourself, of being original and going totally against the
grain. You get shunned, you become an outcast, people hate you, you get bullied,
some people accept you but they can turn on you within a split second. This is
the reality of being yourself and refusing to hide beneath a cloak of
conformity.

It is a book about a boy who falls for this unusual girl. He
finds her amazing and becomes fascinated with her. The book is written from his
point of view so everything we learn about Stargirl comes from the way he sees
her and the observations he makes on other people's reactions to
her.

Just the title, 'Stargirl', attracted me to the book. It really
isn't a normal title but then it really isn't a normal book and the shocking
pink cover really makes it stand out.

I found Stargirl to be something of a Messiah figure. Her name, her personality, the things she does, the way people react to her, the way the story unfolds just seems to parallel the story of
Jesus. Having studied a degree in Religion and Theology I noticed this
immediately.

This book really is magical.