Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli

Stargirl. By Jerry Spinelli. Alfred A. Knopf, 2000. 186 pages.

Plot:  Stargirl is an eccentric 10th grader at an Arizona high school who plays the ukelele, has a pet rat and dresses like no other.  She is charming, intelligent and kind, but this is a recipe for at first great popularity which turns to being shunned and hated. Her free spirit captures the heart of Leo, who is the narrator of the book and is torn between his attraction to her and the cost of being shunned because of his association with Stargirl.  In Leo’s own words, “She taught me to revel, wonder and laugh.” The story follows the students through cheerleading, football and basketball games, speech contests and walks in the desert.

Review/Personal thoughts:  This is an excellent book for Tweens.  It explores the themes of peer pressure, conformity, first love, popularity and “following one’s heart”.  The book is especially well written. The characters are well-developed and believable. Where as I tapped into the joy of Stargirl’s character, one of my high school students who read the book called Stargirl weird.  The pressure to conform is present in Jr. high and high school today and Stargirl offers a refreshing opportunity for another way of looking at life. I highly recommend this book.

Genre: Fiction

Reading Level: 4.2  Interest level: Ages 10 and up

Awards:  Many including:  Arizona Young Readers' Award

2003 Winner Teen Book Arizona 

Charlotte Award, 2004 Winner Young Adult New York 

Garden State Teen Book Award, 2003 Winner Fiction/Grades 6-8 United States 

Iowa Teen Award, 2003 Winner Grades 6-9 Iowa 

NAIBA Book of the Year Awards, 2000 Winner United States 

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

To Kill a Mockingbird. By Harper Lee.  HarperPerennial, 2002. 323 pages.

Plot:  The story centers on a brother and sister, Jem (10 years old) and Scout (6 years old) who live in Maycomb, Alabama where class and race predominate in many residents’ minds, during the depression.   Over several summers the children share time and adventures with a friend named Dill.  Central to these adventures is the children’s sense of mystery and terror associated with a reclusive neighbor named Boo Radley.  The children’s widowed father, Atticus Finch, is a lawyer who agrees to defend an African American man accused of raping a white woman. There is drama that unfolds with the trial that includes a lynch mob and with the children who come under attack from an unknown assailant as they return home after dark.

Review/Personal thoughts:  This book is a classic by any definition.  It is an excellent read for tweens.  To a degree, it is a coming of age story.  The children become acutely aware of the cruel reality of racism, misperceptions and  assumptions.  Injustice, integrity, courage and compassion are additional themes which are expertly woven into this story. The ending has several unexpected and thought-provoking scenes.  I don’t always understand the praises of some classic books - I totally understand the mastery in this story. A trial, summer memories, a mysterious neighbor, racism, family ties and a father’s love make this easy for me to recommend it.

Genre: Fiction

Reading Level: 5.2 Interest Level: Ages 12 and up

Awards:  1961 Pulitzer Prize in Fiction