Love, Stargirl
Love, Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli
“I’m homeschooling again. Gee, I wonder why — my Mica High School experience went so well!”
Stargirl’s days at Mica High are behind her–days during which she danced around the cafeteria playing a ukulele, cheered for the opposing team at sports events, and rode out the extremes of popularity and unpopularity. She has also left Leo behind, but she has by no means forgotten him. Love, Stargirl is comprised of a self-described “world’s longest letter” to Leo regarding her feelings for him, her experiences at Mica High, and her new post-Mica High existence.
Whereas Stargirl is narrated by Leo; Love, Stargirl has Stargirl herself solidly at the helm. Not only has the point of view altered, but Stargirl’s inner thoughts of sadness, loss, and insecurity will make her seem to readers of the first book like an almost entirely unfamiliar girl. The letters reflect a girl trying to understand how she feels about a boy she loves who let her down.
Yet, while it becomes clear that Stargirl’s spirit took a beating during her experiences in the first book, traces of her essence shine through. Her happy wagon (the stones that represent how happy she is at the moment) is greatly depleted, but as she meets new people and makes new memories one gets the sense that she will be happy again someday. Stargirl’s world becomes full again with a little girl, an agoraphobic, a donut lady, a mourning elderly man who has lost the love of his life, and a boy who quite possibly has a criminal record. Leo changed her indelibly and others she encounters will change her too, but Stargirl at her core remains the girl who brims with small kindnesses and compassion for strangers, who effects others positively, and who is “not just any girl.”
Spinelli’s Stargirl books have a lot to say about conformity, individuality, and self-discovery. While Stargirl speaks to these themes within the context of high school cliques and outsider shunning, Love, Stargirl tackles these same ideas in the bigger world with a wider cast of characters. Both books are enjoyable in their own way and are recommended for young adults who are facing similar struggles of developing their own unique identities and discovering their place in this big world while facing peer pressure to conform to small, status quo ideas.
For other titles about identity and conformity, try some of the suggestions on the ATN reading lists “If you like Stargirl”:
- Alice, I Think by Susan Juby
- Buddha Boy, by Kathe Koja
- Dolores: Seven Stories About Her by Bruce Brooks
- Flipped by Wendelin Van Draanen
- Razzle by Ellen Wittlinger
- The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon
- The Misfits by James Howe
A few other books for young people that offer unique characters facing issues of identity and conformity include Feed by M.T. Anderson, the Uglies series by Scott Westerfeld, and Emma Jean Lazarus Fell out of a Tree by Lauren Tarshis. The hope is that journeying alongside these unique fictional characters will support young people in their own journeys of self-discovery.
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