Customer Reviews

Love, Stargirl

5 star:		(36)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(13)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

how i've missed stargirl! i loved that she's not the typical girl. i loved that she doesn't care what others think of her. i envy that her mother homeschools her and sends her on interesting field trips. none of that changes in this book but we do get to know her better. the mystery falls away and reveals a girl who is just as vulnerable and confused about growing up as other girls her age. she wants what every girl wants: for the boy she loves to see her, really SEE her and love her entirely.

in a series of letters to leo, stargirl tells her own story. she befriends the people others would overlook or ignore. while some might think of her as a busybody, to the misunderstood, she is an angel. her best friend is a 6-year old, her favorite neighbor is an agoraphobic, and the boy she might be interested in is a thief. but in the center of it all, is her heartache for the boy in arizona. somehow, jerry spinelli makes all of this believable and creates characters you can't help but fall in love with. told simply, sometimes poetically, he brings us to calendar hill at the solstice, to the moment when she truly shines. if i wasn't reading in a public place, i may have let a few tears fall.

and the ending was perfect. a true stargirl ending.

I found Stargirl in a bookstore and, for some reason, was intrigued enough to read a page or two. I had never read any of Jerry Spinelli's books before...but before I knew it, I was completely caught up in the story and read it from cover to cover before leaving the store.

It soon became a favorite of mine and a friend gave me a copy, which I have re-read several times. To me, it's a wonderfully inspiring story of individualism that young girls today need now more than ever, when presented with role models like Paris Hilton and Britney Spears.

Just recently I discovered there was a sequel to this beloved book, and as several other reviewers have noted, it's quite different from Stargirl.
Not only has the narrator shifted from Leo to Stargirl, Stargirl shifts as well. We see her as less of a charming enigma and more of a vulnerable teenager who can't seem to get over her lost love. So she begins writing him a very long letter in daily journal form, and as she does, we see her find herself again as she develops healing relationships with an interesting cast of characters: an agoraphobe, a six year old girl, a man whose devotion to his late wife is all-consuming, and a potential replacement for Leo who has a harem and, possibly, a criminal record.

However, the original novel shows Stargirl's humanity and vulnerability or it would not have been believable. I disagree with the other reviewers who miss the enigma, because Stargirl's great triumph is that she is who she is in spite of--and because of--her humanity and vulnerability.

But I agree with the other reviews that say the ending is perfect. Indeed it is.

Both books inspire me. Both books made me very happy. I want to buy copies for every young woman I know and even every young woman I don't.

I loved Stargirl, the first book, because it had a point, it taught us something about the way we treat each other, and the way we should treat each other. It challenged us to look beyond appearances and assumptions, to appreciate differences.

Love, Stargirl, has none of that depth. It is about Stargirl pining for her old boyfriend, a boy who really did not treat her well anyway. Yes, she does crazy things in a very Stargirl fashion, yes, she makes new friends, all of them on the fringe in their own way, but the book simply does not touch the reader in the same way as the first book.

Perhaps if, as one other reviewer seems to be, you are in love with Stargirl the character, not Stargirl the message, you will enjoy this book, because that is all it is, Stargirl the character, and her very typical teenage thoughts. However, if, like me, you appreciated the message that the character brought, then you can skip Love, Stargirl, because it's just not there.

After reading Stargirl I made my whole family read it. I loved her originality and individuality. She challenged those around her and made them better. The book also had great insight regarding how those who are different are treated. It gave the young reader a lesson on how to think about those who are different and that it is good to be unique. However, right from the start, Love, Stargirl seemed to try too hard to tug at stereotypical girl heartstrings. I didn't feel that this was the same girl. It may have been due to the different perspective--seeing Stargirl Leo's perspective in the first book, and then from a first person perspective in the second. Maybe she never really was the girl in the first book, she was just idealized by Leo... Nevertheless, this book felt patronizing to me. Book one we were shown how great Stargirl was. Book two we were told way too many time and it got old.

As I read the first 1/3 of the book I was mad at Jerry Spinelli for making Stargirl so pathetic, lovesick, heartbroken and NORMAL? (Never Stargirl!!!) But, as I read I remembered many of my feelings as a teenager and really identified with her. It was fabulous to see her recover and become better. This book is a must-read for any Stargirl fan. The new characters are fabulous and interesting. It will get you thinking about many issues. I loved it almost as much as the first.

This was a perfect sequel to Stargirl. An enigma can only last so long, here she is a real character, which she was in the last book but since it was told from Leo's point of view she was a bit clouded, a boy describing his first love... I think this book was wonderful in showing how one person can effect another. Leo was oblivious up until the last few pages of the first book at just how much emotional power he had over Stargirl. He knew the power she had over him, and how she touched those around her. But he wasn't able to understand how everything that happened changed her.

In this book we not only get her perspective on those events but on the new people in her life. Her narrative is thoughtful and wonderful. She again shows how she is the best in us all, taking misfits under her wing and guiding them in her Stargirl way, all while trying to heal her broken heart.

Its a wonderful story about being strong and moving on from heartbreak. Spinelli once again proves what a master wordsmith and story teller he is.

Well, I am sad to report that "Love, Stargirl" is a great disappointment. What makes it especially distressing is that it diminishes Stargirl the character. I may be overreacting here, but that which is so special about "Stargirl"--the profound nature of the book, the depth of the message, the extraordinary girl that Stargirl is, disappears in this sequel. Stargirl is ordinary and even at times less than ordinary. She becomes your typical teenage girl--even though she claims to Perry (her new and brief "love" interest) that she is "not your typical girl." She does feel extremely typical to me.

When I began to read this book, I was annoyed and agitated. Where was the insightful story I had come to expect from Spinelli? Where was the girl who was so enchanting and mesmerizing? Gone.

In this sequel Spinelli is Stargirl and he does a terrible job with the female persona. She borders on trite at times. Stargirl is insecure, concerned about how others react to her, second-guessing herself, gushing about Leo and attracted to a new boy (who is the "bad boy" that supposedly so many girls -in real life--are attracted to). He also gives us access to the "Stargirl" story that unexpectedly minimizes the first book. For example, we learn more about what Archie said to Stargirl when Leo broke up with her and it makes Archie less wise in my eyes. I found myself revering him less. I forced myself to finish the book and it did get better toward the end; however, not enough to save it. Much of it is tedious and had I not wanted it to redeem itself somehow, somewhere, I would have stopped reading.

Sadly for it me it feels like Spinelli sold out here. He had such a phenomenal success with "Stargirl" that he pushed himself to create this sequel. There is nothing inspiring about it.

Having said all that, it would still work as your average young adult novel that is about "love." Students may not be as disappointed as I was, but those who were so moved by the first book, may be.

Title: Love, Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli

Pages: 274

Days spent reading it: 4 days.

Why I read it: This book is the sequel to Stargirl, which I loved.

Brief review: I looked forward to reading Love, Stargirl since I heard it was coming out. The original Stargirl was a great twist on the boy meets girl tale, and I thought the sequel would be just as original. Sadly this book did not live up to the standard set by its predecessor.

Love, Stargirl is written as if it was Stargirl's journal. So it is not a straightforward tale, instead it follows the everyday exploits of our heroine. Some days are interesting; others, not so much. The love story that made the first book so wonderful is missing and instead Stargirl is paired up with a 6 year old named Dootsie, and a myriad of random people from the town.

My biggest problem with the story is that I have read the same plot before. Because of Winn-Dixiehas many of the same elements. These include: multi-generational misfits in town pulled together by an especially loving girl, big celebration at the end, and a random pet that serves a major character. The truth is Because of Winn-Dixie was much better and written years before. And the sad thing is that Stargirl is such an original character, it is a shame to see her wasted in a regurgitation of a tried and true plot.

I wanted to like, Love, Stargirl, but it just was not that great. The slow beginning picks up by the end, and the theme of love and loss is handled very well, but this book is just sub-par compared to the original material. Not terrible, but not great. Stargirl fans are sure to pick it up, but they would preserve their memory of Stargirl better if they left this one on the shelf. Really it is my respect for the original Stargirl that compels me to be honest in evaluating this offering by Spinelli.

Favorite quote: "May our reunion be not a finding but a sweet collision of destinies!"

Stars: 3 out of 5.

Final Word: Unoriginal.

I think it totally missed the mark. Stargirl was interesting in the first book and here she is stripped of mystery and exposed as a ordinary self-absorbed pretentious teenage girl. The 5 year old character in the book never became interesting. The boy teenager thief pretty much represents callous disregard for others. The younger teenage girl who is angry at the world, never seemed to have a reason for the anger. The interesting character Leo from the first book disappears from view almost completely. The love interest dies. Now that I think of it, this book is the anti-thesis of the one that came before it. This is a lesson in how to mess up a good thing.

There's no other way to state this. If you loved the original Stargirl, that free-thinking, original dressing, ukulele playing, compassionate, caring, vivacious, story-telling girl, with her relationships with Leo the conformist teen; her teachers, parents, and mentors; her rat; and various plants and inanimate objects, then retain that memory. Love, Stargirl is a sequel that offers nothing new except a very long letter to Leo that describes the world from Stargirl's perspective. And I found that she was most interesting being described, not describing.

In Stargirl, she was the one who was "different." In Love, Stargirl, it seems that she is surrounded by people stranger than she is/was.

I consider this volume much less entertaining and enlightening than the original Stargirl. Perhaps I'd be saying the reverse if I read them in reverse order. But I didn't. Stargirl is a gem. Love, Stargirl, has a level of tedium that I can't accept. After all, you simple ask yourself... what would Stargirl do?