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Feb 23, 2011

Emma rated it:

Okay, I'm going to say it. 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). 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. A classic also needs to have memorable writing and characters. It needs to speak to the reader. I More...

8 comments like (58 people liked it)

Jul 25, 2008

Karen rated it:

Very sweet. I had this book lying around and picked it up to give myself a break from the Holocaust Monster I've been chipping away at for the past month, and it definitely did the trick. The kids seem a little innocent - more like elementary school than high school - but dammit why CAN'T there be beautiful and magical teenagers who hold hands at the movies and give their friends cupcakes and valentines? Why do they have to do drugs and have sex and be JERKS all the time?

8 comments like (59 people liked it)

Mar 17, 2008

Michael rated it:

For some weird reason I couldn't put this book down! You should read it. It grabbed my attention and I am a very picky reader! :)

8 comments like (27 people liked it)

May 18, 2008

Karen rated it:

There are too many things wrong with this story. First of all, nonconformity for nonconformity's sake is not necessarily a good thing. Sure, we should not judge people who don't jump on the Abercrombie wagon. We shouldn't care if a girl want to dress hippy-style. We should applaud people who show sportsmanlike conduct.

But why do we need to applaud people's outrageous behavior, especially when it borders on staulking? Creepy.

I love that Stargirl stood for some good More...

16 comments like (27 people liked it)

Mar 08, 2008

Jared rated it:

Stargirl is an amazing book about individuality and nonconformism. A home-schooled girl named Stargirl begins attending the public high school for her sophomore year. Stargirl is different.

She learns everybody's birthdays and on the day of, she sings them a happy birthday song -- accompanying herself on the ukulele -- in the middle of the lunch room, whether they want her to or not. She watches a young boy who lives across the street so that she can create a scrapbook for him with More...

0 comments like (21 people liked it)

Jun 11, 2008

Talia rated it:

Stargirl Caraway is the new girl at Mica Area High School, and in her mysterious first days of school, she reveals herself to be a true unique individual. She plays a ukalele! She carries around a pet rat! She gives little gifts and cards to people she doesn't know! Soon, all of the high school cannot resist her charm, and she has the entire community under her spell. But after a while, Stargirl's actions become tiresome, irritating, and the question rises among her peers: why can't she just be More...

0 comments like (8 people liked it)

May 12, 2008

Jennifer rated it:

Reviewed by Me for TeensReadToo.com

Stargirl Caraway is an enigma. She's the type of girl that you either love or hate--with no room for any emotions in between. When she first comes to the high-school as a sophomore in small town Mica, Arizona, her name reverberates throughout the hallways. What kind of a name is Stargirl? Was she really home-schooled for all these years, or did she just magically appear in Mica? How can she seem so calm, so serene, why eating quietly alone in the lu More...

0 comments like (11 people liked it)

Mar 20, 2008

Stephanie rated it:

It started with a necktie. It ended with a necktie. But not just any kind of necktie and not just any kind of girl would give someone a gift with pictures of porcupines.

I really loved this book. REALLY! I did. I HEART Stargirl. Seriously. I’d been meaning to read it for years and like the last book I devoured, after reading the first 2 pages, I couldn’t put it down; so the other books I’d started before this one got pushed aside so I could get lost in her world. This book had More...

3 comments like (10 people liked it)

Jan 29, 2012

Clare rated it:

This is one of those rare reads where you can allow your heart to open up wide and let the story sink deep. A series for every teenage girl: just reading it makes you a better person, teaching you to laugh, to listen, to enjoy, to love, to care...

In spite of the attractive eccentricity of the main character, Stargirl is more real than any other book for teens. It is set in the erratic climate of teen emotions, realistically depicted through ordinary events and conversations.

More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Oct 15, 2007

Jenny rated it:

This book is about a weird girl called Stargirl. She is weird because she does a lot of things that people don't normally do. Even her name is weird.

Let me tell you about a few of the weird things she does. Firstly she takes photos of people without them knowing. She stalks them and secretly takes their photos. Then she makes a photo album and gives it to them when they get older.

The other weird thing she does is to wear clothes that do not fit her. She usually wears lo More...

0 comments like (4 people liked it)

Sep 27, 2008

BATMAN rated it:

if this book was a person i would kill them. i would kill them in front of there mother and make them swallow there own heart. it showed a sad message that HAS BENN PLAYED OUT OVER AND OVER again. if you were locked in a box and told not to look at sun light for 12 years this book might be refreashing if not then dont bother. simply it was so crappy. here is the WHOLE STORY i'll save you time well she is differnt meets kids and then marginalized and then surprisingly becomes not differnt. here i More...

15 comments like (7 people liked it)

Mar 29, 2009

Jasmine rated it:

it was refreshing to read about stargirl's genuine kindness and individuality. i liked it.

we want to dance to the music in our own heads, but we don't because of the looks, whispers and stares we'd get.

stargirl is the person we all want to be, while leo reminds us of the person most of us are.

i hope one day to be as brave as stargirl

15 comments like (7 people liked it)

Feb 17, 2009

Theodora rated it:

Review- Others would like this book for many reasons, such as how interesting and the amount of individually in the loving & vulgar characters. From the very sore beginning and the sad but sweet ending, I enjoyed it every much. All the words made into sentences that formed into paragraphs and final came together to make a magical, captivating and enchanting short novel Others might think differently but the characters to me were not real, but just a blink of an eye away from being similar to the More...

1 comment like (4 people liked it)

Jan 26, 2009

Annalisa rated it:

Truthfully I did not expect to like this book. I expected a heavily handed tale about acceptance. But here's the thing: I did not like Star Girl.

The story is about a free-spirited girl whose named herself Star Girl who shows up for her first year of public education as a sophomore and the typical apathetic student body doesn't quite know how to respond to her. Normally when I read stories about the quirky outcast, I want to shield them from cruelty of the popular crowd, but I found More...

0 comments like (8 people liked it)

Oct 01, 2008

Namratha rated it:

Is she an alien? Is she home-schooling gone berserk? Is she sniffing fumes? …this and many more queries surround Stargirl Caraway when she makes her appearance at Mica High. Strumming a ukulele, carrying a rat called Cinnamon in her canvas bag and wearing clothes ranging from pioneer gowns to kimonos she’s as strange as they come. Add to that the fact that she does the weirdest, kindest and friendliest things. She sings birthday songs to perfect strangers, drops loose change accidentally on purp More...

2 comments like (4 people liked it)

Apr 29, 2008

Mary rated it:

Poor Leo, a junior in high school is dumbfounded by the new girl. She comes to school with a rat in her purse, plays the ukulele, sings in the cafeteria, decorates her desk with a tablecloth and flowers, takes over the football field from the team, and well, is simply strange. But Leo is drawn to this girl, the self-named Stargirl; her behavior and his reaction to it will change them and all of the student body. Jerry Spinelli has built strong characters in Stargirl, ones you won't soon forge More...

2 comments like (2 people liked it)

Apr 05, 2008

Anna rated it:

This was my first Jerry Spinelli read and for the most part I enjoyed it. I'd give it 3.5 stars if that was possible. :)

I can see why kids like his writing style, which is simple and straightforward, yet interesting. The issues he tackles in this book -- identity, conformity/nonconformity, and peer pressure -- are all relevant for middle school-aged readers, which is who this book is best suited for. Also, I think he does a good job of sending the "right" message without More...

0 comments like (7 people liked it)

Mar 15, 2008

Kari rated it:

This is the first Spinelli book I read. It's no wonder he's popular among children and youth... it's sort of hard to put the book down! The desert setting, nostalgic point of view, cast a romantic spell. The book paints a reminiscent ideal of a tight-knit, connected American community, contrasted against a suburban cinnabon eating culture. It turns out that community is a naive construct in Stargirl's mind that has to face the harsh reality of rejection when she enters public school. It is abou More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Mar 08, 2008

Robin rated it:

Stargirl is a story of Susan (aka Stargirl) who has been homeschooled for the majority of her life. She makes her way into Mica High and is not deemed normal by other kids. She arrives at school in costume-like outfits, plays her ukulele for students celebrating a birthday, takes her pet rat Cinnamon everywhere. The student body doesn't quite know what to make of her. For one student, Leo Borlock, Stargirl is mesmerizing and intriguing. Eventually the student body embraces her individuality and More...

6 comments like (2 people liked it)

Jun 27, 2007

Rachel rated it:

It's really, really good. It kind of makes me cry, showing how horrible people can be to a person who obviously doesn't deserve it. She's new, and her randomness is so amazing. I mean, she has a pet rat.
I like Leo. He seems average, but a little bit more. He understands how amazing she is, but at the same time, I wish he'd tried harder to be what she needed.
I like the ending, even though it's sad. I like how she leaves and Leo is left with this thought that he might have be More...

4 comments like (2 people liked it)

Feb 07, 2009

Marian rated it:

I LOVED this book! Actually as my first download on my Ipod, I loved listening to this book. It got me happily through an entire afternoon of pulling down miserable wallpaper.

I absolutely love Stargirl. She is a nonconformist, yes. But more importantly she is uncommonly sensitive to those in need, kindhearted, observant yet seemingly oblivious to the missteps of others, including her fickle and cruel classmates. Or perhaps she is not oblivious after all, perhaps she is more forgivin More...

2 comments like (2 people liked it)

Apr 12, 2009

Chanelle rated it:

This was a fun read and I found many parts of myself in it. I was once different (but never to the extreme that Stargirl was ;) ), but have conformed from years of ridicule and being the blunt of jokes. It has only been very recently that I've been trying to gain some of that older self back and I am grateful for this book at this time. I can and will be true to myself and not let others influence what I find important and interesting!

Some fun side notes~ I'm from Tucson and could u More...

1 comment like (2 people liked it)

Apr 09, 2009

(G)Emma rated it:

Stargirl is simply, one of the best books I've ever and will ever, read. Stargirl is so mysterious, unique, and makes such an impression I wish I could meet her. Hear her voice, and see her pratice "Elements of Nothingness," stroke cinnamon. Leo, I thought, was useless, but anyone who could love Stargirl was someone I could like. Stargirl is too amazing for words, because Stargirl, is bigger then the night sky.

6 comments like (4 people liked it)

Aug 24, 2011

Jane rated it:

I can completely see why my fifth grade students loved this book. Who doesn't imagine they could be the non-conformist, the self they feel inside, instead of the self they think their classmates need to see them be. That's what Stargirl does, and who she is. The fact that she is also clueless is something I'd love to talk about with my students. The worst example of this, for me, was when she arrived at a funeral for someone she didn't know at all and then went to the house for the after-fune More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Nov 26, 2010

Debbie rated it:

Fitting in and being a part of something is half the battle for most high school students. For Stargirl, being herself and doing things because they were right or made her feel good about herself was even more important. The students at Mica High couldn’t understand why this strange girl would sing Happy Birthday to everyone on their birthday or put flowers on her desk, but Leo Borlock wanted to know more. Befriending the new girl to learn more about her gave him a new look on life, but what More...

2 comments like (3 people liked it)

Feb 11, 2009

Teri rated it:

I don't think I can say more than has already been said about this book. I got it for $.99 from a book order and now I wish I had bought 10 so I could give them away as gifts. Everyone should read this book to remind us to look around and really live our lives. I heart Jerry Spinelli!

10 comments like (2 people liked it)

Feb 17, 2009

Dorsin added it

Everything in Mica High School is normal. Even though everybody in the school is different, there are still similar in many ways. Then one day, Stargirl comes and changes everything. She gives cookies to everyone, decorating her desk as if she was redecorating her room, and most surprising of all, she sing happy birthday to everyone on her ukulele. The whole school is surprised, never in all their life had anything like this happened to them, and will they like it? Will they hate it?
Studen More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Nov 02, 2010

Kath rated it:

Katherine Bald
Romaniuk/Moyer
Reading/L.A. Book Review Number 4
2 November 2010
Star Girl:
Make Your Personality Shines Through
How would you react if someone came into your school and broke every single clique only with her ukulele and rat named Cinnamon? The amazing book, Star Girl, by Jerry Spineli is a magical story filled with details of how to reveal your true self. As the book is told through Leo’s eyes I find that Mica Area High School is very simple place an More...

4 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jan 22, 2009

Diane rated it:

Sweet, funny and poignant. The self-named Star Girl, is a magically unique young woman, who enters public school for the first time in her life at an Arizona high school. She is a blythe spirit, who strives to live as her authentic self, almost oblivious to the reactions of others to her unwillingness to conform and non-existent need for approval. She's never learned fear of rejection or the wrath of the "cool" kids. For a time she has such an effect on the student body, that they are More...

3 comments like (1 person liked it)

Nov 24, 2011

Monique rated it:

I could feel my heart practically breaking inside me as I was reading this book. It is one of those YA books that are relevant and replete with life lessons for all to learn, whether you can relate to the characters or not.

Stargirl is told in the first-person point of view of Leo Borlock, a junior at Mica High School in Arizona, who crosses paths with a beautiful, kind, and weird girl who has re-christened herself as, well, Stargirl. Stargirl Caraway draws attention to herse More...

1 comment like (5 people liked it)

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