Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli is an indy, teen drama that revolves around social norms and what it means to be “normal” or a “freak”.
One thing that never changes about generations is that to be normal is everything to a teenager. Staying in style and a comfort zone through the awkward stages of changing. Surrounding yourself with people who make you comfortable, and feeling well-liked.
This novel follows a 16-year-old boy named Leo Borlock. Like most teenagers, he avoids change at all costs. In his world bound by nothing but his conscience, comes along a ‘freak’. A girl who dresses in nothing but colors that stand out, who acts out in every way that one would describe as embarrassing, mental, or weird. And yes, I personally experienced a lot of moments of cringe during this read, but it only proves the author’s point. Humans are doomed to labels and assumptions.
Stargirl is an unpredictable offset, creating a problem only designed as a social construct for the people at her high school. They give her all sorts of stories and labels to figure her out and make out what and who she is. Instead of finding out themselves and asking her to her face, they were far more comfortable talking about her to create rumors and stories for their entertainment.
This book exists to call out how teenagers are and how they’ve always been. Too in their heads to do anything different. Keep to themselves, think to themselves, and try to be themselves in the midst of it all. This book just had an influential character with an obvious heavy impact. It felt a bit unrealistic to me, but as it was published in 2002, that’s to be expected.