In the small Arizona school of Mica High, the social structure is about to undergo a major upheaval: Stargirl Caraway has enrolled. Previously homeschooled, Stargirl enters Mica High in a sort of whirlwind of oddness. Her clothes are way out there, she carries around a ukulele and serenades people at lunch on their birthdays, and, of course, her name is Stargirl. What’s more, she doesn’t seem to care that she is so different from all of the other students. She just is.
Ridiculed at first, she soon gains a following. Kids start dressing in really unique ways, they dye their hair different colors, and they start bringing ukuleles to school. Her biggest fan is 11th grader Leo Borlock, our narrator, who falls in love with her almost immediately. Stargirl’s popularity grows, and Leo asks her to be interviewed on his school’s television show for a segment called The Hot Seat which he produces.
Somewhere between her agreement to be interviewed and the interview itself, Stargirl’s popularity takes a nosedive. For the first time in forever, Mica High has a good basketball team, and it looks like they might be tournament-worthy. Stargirl is a cheerleader, but she cheers for both teams. To the students at Mica High, this is traitorous. Undeterred by the students’ growing antipathy for her actions, Stargirl continues to cheer for Mica High as well as their opponent. And then she gets a tomato in the face. When she goes on the Hot Seat, the other students’ interview questions are malicious and incredibly mean-spirited. Stargirl is flabbergasted.
Somehow, Leo convinces Stargirl to start acting more normal (and consequently, less like herself). She starts going by her given name, Susan, and dresses like everyone else. She buys into the idea that it’s important to be popular, spurred on by Leo, whose own popularity is at stake (he is dating her at the time). But it doesn’t work – Susan doesn’t regain her popularity. So she decides to be Stargirl again.
It’s easy to be cynical about a character like Stargirl, especially as a teen. There were plenty of kids in my high school who (it seemed to me at the time) were weird just for the sake of being weird. But I never got that impression from Stargirl. She always comes across as genuine, particularly in the conversation where Leo convinces her to start acting more normally. Leo tries to explain that she can be accepted by just trying to act like everyone else, and Stargirl comments on how difficult and exhausting that must be. Of course, she’s right. It’s a completely foreign concept to her. Seen through Stargirl’s eyes, it’s so much easier to be yourself, it’s amazing more people don’t do it.
What makes Stargirl such a great character isn’t just her overall oddness and her resolution to not be swayed by social pressure (aside from the brief period where she reverts to Susan). She’s also a genuinely nice person. She nice to the nth degree. It’s not an air or an affectation; she doesn’t do it to be recognized or for a thrill. She’s nice to be nice. She sends cards to strangers who post on bulletin boards (will mow your lawn for cash; elderly woman needs companion; etc.). She reads the filler stories in the local newspaper so she knows if someone is in need and she can help them. She drops coins on the ground for children to find. You might think that this is all just too much (or too creepy), but trust me when I tell you that it’s not. It’s heartwarming without being cloying. It’s moving but also practical.
The epilogue of this book is one of the best I’ve ever read. I can’t say too much about it without major spoilage, but I will say that it made me choke up. It’s the perfect ending.
John Ritter narrates the audiobook, and he is wonderful. He’s the perfect Leo – he manages to imbue Leo’s voice with just the right amount of shyness, selfishness, and uncertainty. He makes Leo likable even when he is pressuring Stargirl relentlessly to conform, to change from the person he fell in love with. We’ve all been there – we’ve felt the pressure to conform, and we know what it’s like to see the people we love ridiculed. We also all know what it’s like to be embarrassed by the odd behavior of these loved ones. It’s a testament to Ritter’s skill that Leo still emerges as a three-dimensional character we feel for even as we condemn his actions. Ritter’s narration is particularly poignant considering the fact that Ritter passed away in 2003.
This is one of those classic young adult books that I didn’t read as a teen, even though I was a teen when it was published. Then as now, I avoided contemporary books like the plague, but this one is universal. I’d recommend it to anyone.
I love Stargirl! I never read the sequel because I kind of want to pretend the book ends where it ends. Is it worth it?
I agree that John Ritter did an amazing job with his narration. It makes me sad that he's not around to narrate anymore children's books.
This one sounds like a fantastic read especially with John Ritter narrating.
Stargirl is AMAZING. Literally one of my favorite books of all time. And I loved Love, Stargirl almost just as much. Interestingly… this book is pretty old, but Stacked is the second blog I've seen it on this week! I hope Stargirl is getting a whole new wave of fans 🙂
I completely missed Stargirl when I was a teenager (frankly, I didn't read a lot of YA books because, um, I have no idea). But I LOVED it. The audio is terrific.