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A review by mariahistryingtoread
Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli
3.0
If manic pixie dream girl was a book it’d be Stargirl.
As a coming of age story Stargirl perfectly encompasses the pressures of adolescence. I read this as a kid and spent years avoiding it as the bullying was too much for me to handle. Being an adult gave me a different perspective. In a way it was more tolerable. In another it was more painful.
It sits in a weird place between young adult and middle grade, to its detriment. The writing style is middle grade, but it’s about 16 year olds. I think it would have been better if it was more directed at middle grade because it doesn’t actually take advantage of having older protagonists. I actually think the story isn’t as good because it operates as if the struggle of early teenagers is exactly the same as older ones. It comes off as a middle grade novel masquerading as a young adult one in an attempt to draw both sides of the demographic in.
It’s not like these are hard lines. Kids who would fall under middle grade can absolutely read up. So I think it would have been a lot more beneficial to write up and hope the kids rise to the occasion instead of expecting teens to read down.
Leo was annoyingly realistic. He wants a baddie, but the moment he bags her he can’t handle it and does everything he can to smother her light. At least he’s young so he has time to change.
Stargirl was plain annoying. I don’t think she should change herself in the least to fit in with a bunch of wishy washy, judgmental teenagers. That being said, the culture has changed a lot since the hippie archetype first emerged. The whole ‘starchild-love everyone-bohemian’ schtick has been majorly co-opted. It no longer holds the same appeal it once did as people with this vibe more often than not are entitled, self involved white moderates.
There obviously are tiers to this and I’m not saying every mother or woman who adopts this kind of aesthetic is bad. I’m just saying that there has been a rise in the ideals attributed to this aesthetic being warped (consciously or subconsciously) for hypocritical and/or malicious purposes. The outcome is that I no longer found her shenanigans endearing.
I’d probably rate lower if it wasn’t so short. The fact that it’s a brisk read is to its benefit.
As a coming of age story Stargirl perfectly encompasses the pressures of adolescence. I read this as a kid and spent years avoiding it as the bullying was too much for me to handle. Being an adult gave me a different perspective. In a way it was more tolerable. In another it was more painful.
It sits in a weird place between young adult and middle grade, to its detriment. The writing style is middle grade, but it’s about 16 year olds. I think it would have been better if it was more directed at middle grade because it doesn’t actually take advantage of having older protagonists. I actually think the story isn’t as good because it operates as if the struggle of early teenagers is exactly the same as older ones. It comes off as a middle grade novel masquerading as a young adult one in an attempt to draw both sides of the demographic in.
It’s not like these are hard lines. Kids who would fall under middle grade can absolutely read up. So I think it would have been a lot more beneficial to write up and hope the kids rise to the occasion instead of expecting teens to read down.
Leo was annoyingly realistic. He wants a baddie, but the moment he bags her he can’t handle it and does everything he can to smother her light. At least he’s young so he has time to change.
Stargirl was plain annoying. I don’t think she should change herself in the least to fit in with a bunch of wishy washy, judgmental teenagers. That being said, the culture has changed a lot since the hippie archetype first emerged. The whole ‘starchild-love everyone-bohemian’ schtick has been majorly co-opted. It no longer holds the same appeal it once did as people with this vibe more often than not are entitled, self involved white moderates.
There obviously are tiers to this and I’m not saying every mother or woman who adopts this kind of aesthetic is bad. I’m just saying that there has been a rise in the ideals attributed to this aesthetic being warped (consciously or subconsciously) for hypocritical and/or malicious purposes. The outcome is that I no longer found her shenanigans endearing.
I’d probably rate lower if it wasn’t so short. The fact that it’s a brisk read is to its benefit.