Stargirl

Book/Life Review:
Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli

I didn't read this young adult novel until I was in my mid-twenties and working as a children's bookseller full-time. It was one of those nights when the store was quiet, especially in my department, a Saturday night in fact. I was re-shelving or cleaning and picked up this book to read (when my boss wasn't looking of course).

It's about a girl who's been home-schooled but is now enrolled in public middle school. Umm yeah for all the times to get PULLED out of school to learn at home, this is the time I would personally choose. She is unique to be sure but has a heart for people.

One of the things she is known for early on is bring her bango into the lunchroom to sing "Happy Birthday" to one of her classmates. No one knows how she figures out when their day is and of course they are motified. However, nothing phases Stargirl. That is until the very end of the book, when the narrator Leo, who she's fallen in love, rejects her affection and leaves school.

More later... I have to read the sequel that I JUST found out was published late last year...