Book Report: Stargirl

Have you ever read "Stargirl"? I really love the book!! Here is a bookreport that I wrote for IE Core.


Summary:
This is a story about a young girl named Stargirl coming to high school, Mica Area High School, where the story teller goes to. The main characters that appear in this story are Leo, Kevin (Leo’s friend) and Stargirl.
Stargirl was home schooling until she came to Mica Area High School, and she was a little different from everyone. She wore unusual clothes like kimonos, long Pioneer-like dresses, Indian buckskin, miniskirts with green tights; she plays her ukulele at lunch. Her normal was different from others. Also, Stargirl is not her real name. She thought that Stargirl was best for her and changed her name by herself. She changes names when she feels like changing it.
She was getting some kind of attention from every student in school at first. When the time passed, she became popular because of her joyful and cheerful attitudes towards everyone. When she joined the cheerleading club and cheered at the basketball game, the Mica High started winning. She became popular and liked by everyone because of this happening. Everyone liked having her in their classes and school. Students began to copy Stargirl’s good deeds.
She cheered her team at a ball game, cheering for the other team also. She was just cheering wherever the ball went to. However, one happening changed the entire students’ attitude towards her. Stargirl was suddenly shunned for everything by her friends. It was when she ran and went to take care of the injured enemy during the basketball game. She made booing to occur and it was hard to understand for everyone about her unusual behavior. Yet, she did not stop those things even though she became unpopular. She just did not change herself to be the same like other girls.
When half year passed, Leo starts to realize that he has fallen in love with her. He could not stop thinking about her all day and night. Then, Leo and Stargirl started to go around together but the attitudes from students toward Leo and Stargirl was undesirable. This was when she was still hated by everyone, which made Leo to be the victim too when he was with her. He did not get any greeting from his friends at all just because he was being together with her. He did not like the way he was being treated and thought about it. He told Stargirl how she is different from the others in a bad way and convinced her to be normal like other girls. Indeed, she turned normal, being Susan not Stargirl. She wore make-up, wearing jeans and t-shirts just like others. However, even though she became normal like the other girls, it did not change the others attitude towards her. She tried so hard being normal but it did not work.
In the end In the end of the year, she attends the dance party by herself as a Stargirl, having a lot of fun as she could and after that, she moves out of Mica, Arizona without any notice. No one knows where she went.




Literary Analysis:
1) Setting: In a city called Mica, Arizona, USA and most of the story takes place at a high school, Mica Area High School.
2) Point of view: The story is told in the first person perspective.(Leo Borlock)
3) Conflict: There is a conflict between being famous by trying to be normal vs.
4) Climax: Susan being back to Stargirl again. This is where you can also see the conflict and the irony.
5) Symbol: “to be popular” is the symbol in this story.
6) Irony: being normal like others would not make you a famous one at all. Stargirl had the chance to feel it by herself by trying to act normal.
7) Theme: to be yourself. No matter how others are different, you need to be yourself not being affected by any other. Stargirl was being herself all the time even though she was hated by everyone.


Evaluation:
By reading this story, I felt the fragileness of first love and the hardness of trying to fit in to the popular crowd. I also felt the ugliness of social group thing; Stargirl’s kindness, individuality, self expression, and creativity were frowned upon because of difference.　I would recommend this book especially to teenagers who all want to be popular. Stargirl would tell you that being normal is not the only way to be popular.