Friday, July 13, 2007

Stargirl

I just finished reading Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli. I picked this book from alisonwonderland's list for the Something About Me Reading Challenge. After I'd already decided to read it my sister in law, who is a high school English teacher, called me up and raved about it. So, I knew it was a must read.

Stargirl reminds me of all the worst parts about high school. I hated the constant worrying about what the cool kids were doing and trying to pretend like I didn't care. When I was in school nonconformity was cool so we were all busy imitating each other but trying to look like we were doing our own thing. It was exhausting. The main character of Stargirl, also named Stargirl, is just the kind of nonconformist that I always wanted to be...until her boyfriend encourages her to be more "normal."

What is normal, anyway? And what do we lose when we give up everything to attain normality? I like the message of this book. It's a quick read but Spinelli is a great storyteller and he captures your interest from the start. Thanks, alisonwonderland, for suggesting this book!

5 comments:

Stephanie said...

This book is just fabulous!! I read it a couple of years ago, and it has stuck with me ever since!

tinylittlelibrarian said...

And the sequel - Love, Stargirl - has just come out!!

Chris said...

Haven't read this one but, man, how I hated high school!

valentina said...

I'm happy you liked it, it's one of my all time favourite.

alisonwonderland said...

i'm glad you liked it too - especially since
it came from my list! :o)

i'm looking forward to reading Love, Stargirl this summer!