As a result, Stargirl starts calling herself Susan and begins dressing and acting like all the other kids in school. She leaves her ukulele and pet rat at home and begins wearing makeup and jewelry like the other girls. Leo feels thrilled by this change.
Full Answer
During the height of Stargirl's popularity, she'd been selected to compete in the state oratorical contest, and competition day finally arrived. After having a vision, she was certain she'd win and become popular again. Although she did win, she didn't get the hero's welcome she expected.
"What?" "Gave up her self, for a while there. She loved you that much. What an incredibly lucky kid you were." Stargirl changed for Leo. She really liked him and she wanted him to be happy. She began using Susan, dressing like everyone, talking like everyone, she tried to change who and what she was for Leo.
Students continue to circulate rumors about Stargirl as they consider her mannerisms odd. For example, she places a curtain and a vase holding a daisy on her desk in every class, and she greets everyone by name even if they haven’t met. Hillari Kimble is the student who is most suspicious of Stargirl and who suggests different theories about her.
Stargirl is a natural cheerleader—at least on a superficial level. She loves to support and encourage others. The problem arises when that well-meaning support crosses invisible boundaries, like opposing sports teams.
Essential to overcoming adversity is the ability to cause change in yourself and others. In the book, Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli, Stargirl has to learn to accept herself. This helps her to make change in the school because once she was comfortable with herself.
Stargirl has turned "wonderfully, gloriously ordinary" (140). Everything "goofy" is gone, no rat, ukulele, outrageous clothing. Replacing these items are makeup and nail polish, big hoop earrings, and all other normal things that all other girls wear at the school. Leo is over the moon.
Stargirl or Susan? While at Mica Area High School, Stargirl changes her name again, but this time it isn't because she outgrew it. She changes it back to her original name Susan when she's trying to fit in and be like everybody else.
Leo is forever changed by his time with Stargirl. He pays more attention to small details and doing simple things to be kind to people. He remembers her when he does little things they used to do together, like drop spare change for people to find.
In Chapter 16, Leo wanted to be near Stargirl so much that he went to her house, but when she came out, he was too nervous and crouched behind a car. They had a casual conversation and Cinnamon nibbled his ear as he hid.
By the book's end, Stargirl has been ostracized, temporarily accepted back into the fold, and cast out yet again. And then, something even more horrifying happens: she gets slapped by an angry classmate in front of the entire student body at an especially fraught school dance.
Did Stargirl's change to Susan increase her popularity at school? Explain. No. She was still being shunned by almost everyone at school.
Stargirl's Enchanted Place ' Stargirl and Leo walked for miles - across the school fields, past the business parks, and the golf course - and into the desert. They reached the spot where Leo had secretly followed Stargirl months earlier.
Lesson Summary Stargirl, by Jerry Spinelli, reflects the themes of conformity, individuality, and kindness, especially in how the title character relates to other people in her school and town. She is pressured to conform, but in the end, chooses her individuality, while Leo chooses conformity.
Of course when Stargirl does change—into Susan—Leo is over-the-moon happy about it. He's thrilled to help Susan learn to be normal. And when the plan ultimately fails and Stargirl goes back to her good old-fashioned self, Leo is mad.
He hurts her feelings by asking her if she is trying to be a saint. But he swears he didn't mean that to sound nasty; he's just amazed. Then, it happens. After a few more minutes of flirty banter, they share their first kiss, and the kiss sure ain't "saintly."
His ultimatum prompts Stargirl to become Susan, an exceedingly normal girl. But her normal behavior doesn't win her any friends, so Susan switches back to Stargirl, which makes Leo angry. The two of them break up, and Stargirl attends the Ocotillo Ball by herself, while Leo watches from afar.
By the time the school dance rolls around, Hilari is still reeling, and Stargirl surprises her with something necessary: an apology, the exchange taking the place of the slap in Spinelli’s book. “Something else that was important to us was the idea of apology,” Hart said.
By the book’s end, Stargirl has been ostracized, temporarily accepted back into the fold, and cast out yet again. And then, something even more horrifying happens: she gets slapped by an angry classmate in front of the entire student body at an especially fraught school dance.
The 2000 book chronicles the changes that come to an Arizona high school after the arrival of the eponymous Stargirl, a wholly unique teenager who encourages everyone around her to embrace their true selves.
While Stargirl’s free spirit — and her dedication to celebrating an otherwise boring suburban school — initially enchants her fellow students (especially Leo Borlock), the tides turn as the student body fall back into their old affection for conformity. (High school: what a time, what a place.)
Yes, her Stargirl (played by Grace VanderWaal) still leaves Mica after a series of heartbreaking events upend her social standing, plus an ill-fated attempt to “be average” (she even returns to her birth name, Susan), but Hart didn’t want to conclude “Stargirl” with something as vicious as a physical altercation.
Stargirl responds with a kind kiss to the cheek, and is never seen again. It’s a heartbreaker of an ending, and one that even Spinelli eventually tried to tie up in a 2007 sequel that followed Stargirl after leaving Mica High School (and Leo).
There is no such slap in Hart’s “Stargirl.”. Instead, Hart and Horowitz’s script digs into deeper emotions and bigger ideas that feel relevant and necessary today, especially in a film aimed at the younger set.
In a coming of age narrative, shy eleventh-grader Leo falls in love with Stargirl, a free-spirited newcomer at Mica High. When his fellow students turn against Stargirl—and Leo—he pressures her to become ordinary like everyone else. Over the course of the novel, Leo learns the importance of staying true to yourself. Spinelli explores themes of individuality, kindness, and the painful consequences of nonconformity. Stargirl won a Parents Choice Gold Award and an ALA Top Ten Best Books Award, in addition to being a New York Times Bestseller and Publisher’s Weekly Best Book of the Year. Stargirl was adapted for film in 2020 as a Disney+ original movie.
Stargirl then leads most of the dancers in a joyful dance called the bunny hop. Hillari is furious that Stargirl once again captivated the students. Hillari slaps Stargirl, and Stargirl returns the insult with a kiss. Stargirl leaves the dance and is never seen again.
They imitate her positivity and adopt her ways of showing small kindnesses. Stargirl joins the cheerleading squad and energizes the basketball team, blithely cheering when either team scores.
All that changes when tenth grader Stargirl arrives. In her long pioneer dresses, carrying a ukulele and accompanied by her pet rat, Cinnamon, Stargirl causes a stir . She serenades strangers on their birthdays and dances in the rain.
Over the course of the novel, Leo learns the importance of staying true to yourself.
Leo and his family move to the small desert town of Mica, Arizona when he is 12. Now 16, Leo fits seamlessly into ordinary Mica High. Students there dress the same, listen to the same kind of music, and generally do not make waves. All that changes when tenth grader Stargirl arrives.
Stargirl won a Parents Choice Gold Award and an ALA Top Ten Best Books Award, in addition to being a New York Times Bestseller and Publisher’s Weekly Best Book of the Year. Stargirl was adapted for film in 2020 as a Disney+ original movie. This study guide refers to the 2002 edition published by Scholastic.
Stargirl was invited to join the cheerleading squad as Mica's basketball team began their first winning streak in school history. But Stargirl cheered for the other teams, too, and everyone resented her. They called her a traitor and booed her. When the team lost the state finals, they blamed her.
At Leo's request, Stargirl stopped being herself and started acted like everyone else - she wore makeup, bought fashionable clothing, talked like everyone else, and called herself her real name, Susan. During the height of Stargirl's popularity, she'd been selected to compete in the state oratorical contest, and competition day finally arrived. After having a vision, she was certain she'd win and become popular again. Although she did win, she didn't get the hero's welcome she expected.