Love, Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli

Love, Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli
Buy Love, Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli at Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com
Category: Teens
Reviewer: Zoe Page
Summary: The sequel to the highly acclaimed Stargirl, this is further adventures of the girl who dares to be different.
Buy? Yes	Borrow? Yes
Pages: 320	Date: June 2008
Publisher: Orchard Books
ISBN: 978-1846169250
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When the original Stargirl was released I was vaguely aware that people were talking about something that everyone seemed to find quite special. I was also aware that it had a snazzy cover, and there were piles of copies stacked up in every Waterstones I went in to, but being past the target teen age I didn't get as far as reading it. Then, the sequel, Love, Stargirl dropped through my letterbox and I got to discover just what it was everyone had been gushing about.

As we start this book with Stargirl it's a new year.

If I were in charge of calendars, every day would be January 1. she tells us dreamily.

The book then takes the form of both a letter to an old flame Leo, and a diary (where sadly there is but one January 1st each year). Stargirl has moved from the Arizona desert to an altogether much colder place in the east, and after some uncomfortable experiences in the first book, is no longer in school. Still, with home school assignments such as go to place x and write a poem about your experience, or the brilliantly titled Elements of Nothingness, she is finding ways to fill her days. The book is really her journey through this new year, her long time away from Leo, and along the way she finds a precocious 5 year old called Dootsie, a neighbour imprisoned in her own home, a Robin Hood-style thief who also boasts a harem of girlfriends, and various other random characters.

Stargirl is one of those wise-beyond-her-years characters that crop up in so many books these days, especially teen fiction. What makes her different is that she is this through and through. It's not an act she puts on from time to time, or a character trait she flits in and out of. This is who she is – different from most of her peers, but quite happy being so, at least most of the time.

The pain in the first part of this book is so raw it's hard to believe the author, far from being a teenage girl, or a 20 something remembering the recent past, is actually a 60-something grandfather. It's hard to read at times, but happily for both us and for Stargirl it lessens thoughout the year, and while she might not be ready to forget Leo anytime soon, she can begin to move on.

Stargirl has wonderfully trusting and accepting parents, but taking this into account, you could imagine her world being real. Far from painting a negative picture of homeschooled children (freaks and/or loners, taken out of class for religious or moral reasons), this is a pretty appealing view of what education outside the classroom could look like, and would have made me, reading this at the age Stargirl is in the book, seriously wonder whether I too could make the switch.

I can see why so many people thought the original Stargirl was special, and I'm sure many of them will enjoy this follow up to. As for me, there were just a few things I wasn't clear on, from not having read the original (just who or what is Señor Saguaro for example), but I don't think you necessarily need to read the first one first, or even at all. I'm not going to give it full marks (I thought it was great…but not perfect), nor am I going to give it some of the cheesy, gushing praise that was bestowed upon the first one by adults who are trying to sound nice to potential teen readers, but really end up sounding, well, like the grown ups they are. What I am going to say is that this one is a unique read, that is engaging, interesting and witty, and that pre-, post- and current teens could do a lot worse than to pick up a copy.

If you wanted, you could re-title this book as the Infinite Wisdom of Stargirl, because that's what a lot of the pages contain. Harriet Rose is another worthy read with a similar though more abstract approach while Kiki Strike is also one keen on an education outside a classroom.

Thanks go to the publishers for sending Stargirl our way.

We've also reviewed Eggs by Jerry Spinelli.

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You can read more book reviews or buy Love, Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli at Amazon.co.uk Amazon currently charges £2.99 for standard delivery for orders under £20, over which delivery is free.

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