I Read: Love, Stargirl

Love, Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli

I didn't love this as much as StarGirl. I don't know why, but I think it's because by having StarGirl as the narrator, she loses some of her mystery. She's still quirky and unique and learning to find herself and how she fits in the world, but when you can see how her mind works, and why she chooses the things she does, it takes some of the interest away from her character. 

This is written like a journal, or more specifically a really long, expanding letter to former boyfriend Leo. StarGirl says in the beginning that she'll never send it, so it's really functioning much more like a journal than a letter, but she is definitely writing it to someone. 

I'd be interested to know how the recipient responded to the letter when it was received. I got attached to the characters and want to know how things played out in the future. There were several new characters introduced here, as StarGirl had changed locations so had to meet new people. One of them, in particular, was incredibly frustrating for me, because I didn't think other people's reactions to her were realistic. She's a young child; there didn't seem adequate parent involvement. 

After all that, I did enjoy this as well. It was a journey as we discovered more about a character we'd already met.  We learned about her as she learned about herself, and discovered what her actual feelings and emotions were. Her motivations may not have been what we thought they were to begin with, and her life was not exactly as we'd had described. 

The character is written in a way that a lot of people can relate to her, even in her complete uniqueness. No one truly fits in, and we've all had to find a way to deal with that in whatever way we can. 

I wouldn't recommend anyone to read this novel without having read StarGirl, but you can definitely read StarGirl without this one. It's a pleasant follow-up, but not entirely necessary to the first novel's story. 

#47-2020