Love, Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli

Title: Love, Stargirl

Author: Jerry Spinelli

Publisher: Knopf

Hardcover: 274

ISBN: 9780375813757

Rating: +++++

Summary: Love, Stargirl is a sequel to Stargirl. While the first book looked at Stargirl from Leo’s perspective, this book is from Stargirl. It is one long letter to Leo, that is essentially a diary. Stargirl has moved from Arizona to Pennsylvania and she is suffering from heartbreak. Leo has dumped her and she cannot deal with it. Her parents have decided that homeschooling is probably best, so Stargirl gets to interact with a wide variety of people. There is Dootsie, a five-year-old who wants to be Stargirl; Betty Lou, who is suffering from agoraphobia; Alvina, the tough girl that beats up boys and doesn’t fit in; Charlie, who sits by his wife tombstone all day; and several other characters. Through these people, Stargirl begins to hope again.

Review:

This book has gotten many mixed reviews. Some people say that Stargirl shouldn’t care about what a boy thinks of her and it shows that she is just a typical girl. I disagree. Stargirl loves people and animals and the world around her more than any of us could.Since she has so much love, wouldn’t the removal of returned love hurt her more than any usual person? I would think so! Love is hard! Losing love is even harder, even Stargirl will have a hard time with that.

She hasn’t lost herself completely. She takes the man by the tombstone donuts and a birthday present. She befriends the people that most people ignore. She does nice things for people around her all the time. She is still a one-of-a-kind Stargirl. I love that we got to see her parents in this book. They obviously love their daughter and help her whenever they can. They accept her for who she is and encourage her in whatever she is trying to do. It is a great example of parenting.

I wish I could have been more like Stargirl. She didn’t care if people thought she was strange, she did nice things for them and asked for nothing in return. In the first book, she found out who had a birthday and sang to them. She continued this every day. You know some of these people were sad because they friends or parents did not really acknowledge it and Stargirl made them smile.

I don’t want to give away the ending, but it was a perfect ending to the book. People came together, they tried something new, and she help change her community for the better.

I love the idea of Stargirl. The closest I saw to a Stargirl was my fourth grade teacher. She made sure every student got acknowledgment on their birthday (or half-birthday if they were born in the summer) and also just made sure that every student felt like they were special. She would figure out what everyone was talented in and she let them shine. She would also go above and beyond to help students with whatever it was that they struggled with. Other teachers might have thought she was strange and some of her practices were unique, but I still can remember how she made us feel. My best friend invited her to the Academic M dinner they had for senior who had over a 3.5 and everyone who was in that room that had her made sure they went over to give her a hug.

Have you know any Stargirls (or Starboys)?