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A review by no_prince_here
Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
I’m going to be honest, I watched the movie first and I very much disliked it. When the trailers for the second movie started rolling around, I immediately got excited, because it was taking the direction I thought the first one should’ve had gone with. And I loved “Hollywood Stargirl”. And I thought to myself, why hadn’t I read the book?
So I picked it up (during a book ban but shhh) and I began reading it on Christmas Eve. I finished on January first, and as the new year was born I felt sort of reborn myself. Now, on a technical level, this made me appreciate the first movie and also hate it a little more for missing the point on certain parts. And I am taking that 0.25 stars out of it for lacking some much needed POV of Stargirl herself. But on the deeper level that no one ever really cares to know…
Others have referred to people like the title character as the “manic pixie dream girl”, and honestly, I didn’t know it back then, but when other kids were criticising me, maybe they didn’t know either, but that’s what they meant. They thought I just wanted the credit, or that I was crazy, wrong in the head and in need of psychiatric help. And I still, to this day, ask myself; Why the fuck do people find it weird to want to help a perfect stranger? A person hurting, why wouldn’t anyone want to help? Why do we have so many things in this “society” (le gasp) that, when broken down make no sense? In our world, being kind and maybe a little quirky makes you fade. The “shunning” as described in this very book. And are we just doomed to be ghosts forever? Floating around, unknown, ignored, just because we’re a little different? That is our point. But there’s another side to it, a brighter one. We leave an impact, without even letting them know. And we will keep bringing smiles to people, one way or another.
So if you’ve ever felt like that, go out to an enchanted place. Scream. The universe might listen.
So I picked it up (during a book ban but shhh) and I began reading it on Christmas Eve. I finished on January first, and as the new year was born I felt sort of reborn myself. Now, on a technical level, this made me appreciate the first movie and also hate it a little more for missing the point on certain parts. And I am taking that 0.25 stars out of it for lacking some much needed POV of Stargirl herself. But on the deeper level that no one ever really cares to know…
Others have referred to people like the title character as the “manic pixie dream girl”, and honestly, I didn’t know it back then, but when other kids were criticising me, maybe they didn’t know either, but that’s what they meant. They thought I just wanted the credit, or that I was crazy, wrong in the head and in need of psychiatric help. And I still, to this day, ask myself; Why the fuck do people find it weird to want to help a perfect stranger? A person hurting, why wouldn’t anyone want to help? Why do we have so many things in this “society” (le gasp) that, when broken down make no sense? In our world, being kind and maybe a little quirky makes you fade. The “shunning” as described in this very book. And are we just doomed to be ghosts forever? Floating around, unknown, ignored, just because we’re a little different? That is our point. But there’s another side to it, a brighter one. We leave an impact, without even letting them know. And we will keep bringing smiles to people, one way or another.
So if you’ve ever felt like that, go out to an enchanted place. Scream. The universe might listen.