Stargirl is cute but also a little but creepy like a stalker.

Be yourself and be nice to people. Try not to let the force of public opinion sway you - especially while in high school. ( )

A really great story about a normal boy meeting a strange girl. ( )

I feel like Stargirl is a strange little book, but it's a good kind of strange. The kind of strange that makes a bit more sense as an adult.

From an adult's point of view, Stargirl feels like an examination on the Manic Pixie Dream Girl trope in a middle/high school setting with that middle/high school lens. You admire what's different and strange, you crave it, you want it for your own, but once you have it, appreciating it as it is becomes difficult since society (and you yourself) may want to change that strange, unusual and precious thing. Stargirl herself is a manic pixie dream girl for our main character, but we also see her growing and changing both for the betterment of the strained society that is high school, but also for herself. The story feels incomplete, but that's because our characters, and our titular Stargirl is still growing and still writing her life's story.

To my surprise, this book ended up getting a musical adaptation on Disney+ - and it's pretty faithful to the book save for changing up a few details regarding the main character's backstory (swapping out an uncle for a father), and some details with Stargirl's clothing choices (though I imagine that was just fashion crew having fun when filming), and the songs really helped bring the story to life in movie form. ( )

Great. About the lemming problem in high school, blown chances, artificial popularity. good stuff ( )

If only they still made afterschool specials this would totally be in the running for production. ( )