Review: Stargirl - Jerry Spinelli

Synopsis

Leo Borlock follows the unspoken rule at Mica Area High School: don't stand out--under any circumstances! Then Stargirl arrives at Mica High and everything changes--for Leo and for the entire school. After 15 years of home schooling, Stargirl bursts into tenth grade in an explosion of color and a clatter of ukulele music, enchanting the Mica student body.

But the delicate scales of popularity suddenly shift, and Stargirl is shunned for everything that makes her different. Somewhere in the midst of Stargirl's arrival and rise and fall, normal Leo Borlock has tumbled into love with her.

In a celebration of nonconformity, Jerry Spinelli weaves a tense, emotional tale about the fleeting, cruel nature of popularity--and the thrill and inspiration of first love. (Goodreads)

Thoughts

Published 18 years ago, Stargirl is a modern-day YA classic that I missed the first time around. I picked it up last week thanks to the SSR Podcast (I really want to write a full post on SSR soon!), a weekly podcast that takes a deep dive into popular books from our millennial childhoods to see if they have stood the test of time. 

The book was available on Libby and, at under 200 pages, I figured why not?

The interesting thing about reading popular books from a decade+ ago is seeing how much things have changed. There's still plenty of room for improvement, but today's YA is a lot more diverse and mindful of the world. Considering I mostly read these fantastic new YA books, it was a little difficult getting into Stargirl initially. 

Though the book focuses on our titular character Stargirl, we only get to know her through the eyes of our MC Leo. Because a man wrote this book and put it from the perspective of a teenage boy, I found it annoyingly male gaze-y. Stargirl strums her ukulele in the cafeteria, keeps a pet rat that she literally brings to school with her and talks to, decorates her desk with a tablecloth and a fresh flower...it screams manic pixie dream girl.

Not long after the release of this novel, the MPDG became a common character in film and TV (the very term was coined by a critic in his review of the movie Elizabethtown), but a female character being there to show the main male lead what life could be like if he just opened up and then he changes was certainly not a new concept. 

While the MPDG is mostly a sexist portrayal of a woman, I think that the delivery of this type of character is all about in the way they are portrayed. How are we observing the character? Does she have her own voice? Is it in the perception of the narrator, of the writer, of the way the camera focuses and follows her? By all means, a quirky character deserves to exist...but what are the motivations for her in the story? Or is she just a pretty plot device?

That's where my issues lay with Stargirl. I was annoyed that I had to constantly read about how strange she was, almost otherworldly, through a 16-year-old boy's lovesick voice.
Once he finally started to talk to her and we got to know a little bit more about Stargirl, I appreciated her more. Her motivations behind the little things she does for people and for herself are rooted in a need to look for the overlooked, in an appreciation of the simple moments that inevitably impact our lives more than we think. It's fascinating, but we still have to see it through Leo's eyes...and Leo isn't very understanding.

As much as he adores Stargirl, he is a teen looking to make it through high school unscathed. It's one thing to coast along, but it's another to find yourself on the outside looking in, and that's exactly what happens once he invites Stargirl, who has unintentionally isolated herself from the school by simply following her own path, into his life. It frustrates him that she won't just be normal, but Stargirl is not only untrue to herself if she changes, she's also downright miserable. How dare Leo want that for her just so that he can be more comfortable in high school?

At the heart of it all, this story takes a critical look at the complications of popularity or the lack thereof. It's a glance at the way this trivial but all too important aspect of growing up defines who we are, whether it be the way we choose to present ourselves to the world or the things we keep hidden for fear of that dreaded isolation or, worse, bullying. 

The writing is very reminiscent of John Green (who came along 5 years after this book and presented his own interpretations of MPDGs) and I could 100% see myself loving this book as a teen because I often felt like an outsider. I had friends, of course, but I wasn't popular and I chose to find quirky ways to express myself. I wanted to be like Elle Woods in Legally Blonde. Someone who was essentially following the pack but doing it in her own way, bringing color and cute to otherwise boring tasks (I still do this, by the way. If you have to make to-do lists, shouldn't they be on cute paper? If I have to carry a tote bag, shouldn't it have a cute quote or design on it?). Stargirl (the character) is fantastic in that even though she does waver in being herself, she comes back to herself. She chooses authenticity. But the story falls slightly flat for me now because I really would've preferred to hear her side, rather than that of someone who wants her but can't seem to handle what that means.

Rating

I get why this is a popular book and the beautiful writing certainly stands the test of time, but feminism, diversity, and individuality have grown so much in the time that this book was written. It's hard not to read this with a critical feminist eye and get a bit gaggy at the male gaze of it all. I'm curious about the sequel, Love, Stargirl since it is written from her perspective and that's something I am so interested in. 

Huge thanks to SSR for discussing this because I'm glad I picked it up, even though I basically picked it apart. If you haven't checked out the SSR podcast, you should!
Each week features a new book and a new guest with great discussions.