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 and is not open at all to change. When Stargirl entered MAHS I knew right away that she was not going to fit in. However, I felt that someone would accept her for she really is. Even though this book is realistic fiction I could relate to Leo, because sometimes I can get embarrassed by other people. I can also relate to Stargirl because of the sacrifices that she made just to make a friend. Overall I give Star Girl four out of five stars because of the way the author made me think of who I really am. There are so many themes in the book Stargirl but these are the top three: nonconformity and the importance of being yourself, peer pressure and the fear of becoming an outcast and the importance of being kind to others.
One of themes in the book Stargirl is nonconformity and the importance of being yourself. Stargirl is different, but makes herself blend in by changing to be like everyone else. Stargirl shows people that it is ok to express yourself in various and unique ways. “At the same time, we held back. Because she was different...We had no one to compare her to, no one to measure against her. She was unknown territory. Unsafe." (pg.26). In that sentence Leo was describing his reaction to Stargirl's actions, and how uncomfortable Stargirl's personality made him feel. Another example of how Stargirl did not conform to the rest of the school was how she always knew when everyone’s birthday was. She would always bring her ukulele and sing away. Through Stargirl's actions, she demonstrated that being yourself, even if it means being different, is better than blending in.
Another theme in the book was peer pressure and the fear of becoming an outcast. Leo made Stargirl change so he could be more comfortable about being her friend. However, the main reason he wanted her to change was so that his other friends would not criticize him for having a relationship with Stargirl. This made Stargirl realize that maybe not everyone liked her. Since Leo was so embarrassed by Stargirl, and felt pressured by his friends, he decided to choose between his friends and Stargirl. Leo was afraid that his with Stargirl would lead to him becoming an outcast in the school. “You don’t understand how important it is to be popular”(pg. 46). Leo said this to Stargirl as he was explaining that she wasn’t normal, and so she would realize that changing would be better.

Finally, I found that the theme of this book was the importance of being kind to others, no matter who they are. Stargirl made MAHS a real community, and a place that could make people safe. “Usually only four or five students entered the contest at MAHS, but this year there was thirteen including Stargirl”(pg.39). This quote showed how Stargirl made the students feel comfortable enough to be more outgoing. She made them look forward to something and appreciated them even if they were different. Another example of Stargirl's kindness was when she helped a student who was hurt in a basketball game even though he was on the other team. She also would cheer for the other team to make both teams feel special. Stargirl's classmates were upset because they felt she was a traitor.

There are so many themes in the book Star Girl but these are the top three: nonconformity and the importance of being yourself, peer pressure and the fear of becoming an outcast and the importance of being kind to others. Many things really surprised me about this assignment, and stood out to me personally. One of them was the connection with my learning disability. Many people don’t understand when I don’t get something. People single me out because I learn differently, even teachers. My disability makes me different from everyone else, just like Stargirl. I like to show people that they are wrong about me. I like to show people that I can work just as hard as they can, maybe even harder sometimes. One of the things that many people deal with at school is a clique. I also deal with this at my school and it is sometimes hard to break away from a group. Stargirl really changed a lot of people's lives by doing this. This assignment was very personal for me, and I found that my learning disability holds me back from a lot. However, I also fight through a lot of things and I know I will go on to something great one day.
On this assailment I work very hard. I also spent four hours on my revisions! I redid this paper four times and I believe that this is the best by far! One thing that was difficult for me was opening up about my learning disability. I really need to work on my spelling and grammar; also I need to work on my themes. Overall I loved this assignment and I believe I deserve an A!