Stargirl - Jerry Spinelli

Stargirl Caraway shows up at Mica High School and disrupts everything. She plays a ukulele in the lunchroom, dances by herself, wears outrageous outfits, and doesn't seem to care what anyone thinks. The school loves her ... and then, gradually, they tire of her, and then turn to spite. It's told from the point of view of Leo Borlock, a boy who falls in love with Stargirl and is torn between her affections and everyone else's. Parts of it are painfully true—the scorn of fellow high-schoolers is not to be taken lightly—and parts are inspiring and uplifting. Stargirl is the sort of person we wish we could be, if only we could still be just like everybody else.

The book has won several awards (and the author, Jerry Spinelli, has several other books under his belt). Highly recommended.

Fed to jonathan's brain | July 07, 2003