Stargirl review
Nov. 5th, 2010 12:24 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
alobearI know Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli is a young adult novel and I perhaps shouldn't expect too much from it in terms of depth and subtlety. However, I do think most 15-16 year olds are capable of understanding a message about individuality and tolerance without having it beaten into them with a giant sledgehammer.
Startgirl tells the story of an odd girl who turns up at an Arizona high school and causes a stir with her strange behaviour. It's told from the point of view of a boy who becomes attached to her, and then tries to persuade her to be more "normal" when people start shunning him because of his association with her.
Yes, it's hard to have confidence in your individuality when you're a teenager. Yes, it's wrong to victimise someone because they are different. Yes, the protagonist should be beaten with sticks for trying to force his girlfriend to conform and then dumping her when she refuses.
This is a valuable lesson, but there are ways to do it that credit your audience with some kind of empathy and intelligence. This book did not use any of those ways.
Startgirl tells the story of an odd girl who turns up at an Arizona high school and causes a stir with her strange behaviour. It's told from the point of view of a boy who becomes attached to her, and then tries to persuade her to be more "normal" when people start shunning him because of his association with her.
Yes, it's hard to have confidence in your individuality when you're a teenager. Yes, it's wrong to victimise someone because they are different. Yes, the protagonist should be beaten with sticks for trying to force his girlfriend to conform and then dumping her when she refuses.
This is a valuable lesson, but there are ways to do it that credit your audience with some kind of empathy and intelligence. This book did not use any of those ways.
