Review: Stargirl

Being different in high school can lead to terrible things. I mean, look at Carrie. You'd think that the sweet and shy kids would be left alone. Instead, they are teased.

Carrie, pic by Everett Collection

However, unlike Carrie, Stargirl isn't shy. She is very sweet and very loud. Her cafeteria school breaks are consumed by playing her ukulele and signing Happy Birthday to ''lucky'' kids, and bonding with her pet rat. During games, she enjoys cheering for the opposite team because everyone deserves to be cheered. As for the biggest thing that made Stargirl different, Leo said,

"If we were hurt, if we were unhappy, or otherwise victimized by life, she seemed to know about it, and to care, as soon as we did. But bad things falling on her - unkind words, nasty stares, foot blisters - she seemed unaware of."  

Will Leo stand up for Stargirl in the end? The big climax enfolds during a school dance, dun dun dun.

Spinelli captures his own individuality while tackling the universal topic of discrimination. He pushes Stargirl to the limits, but never turns her into a farce, giving us a very realistic turn of events.  

Despite it all, I couldn't blame Leo for wanting Stargirl to act normal, specially when kids begin to shun him too for being her friend. Will we ever learn to accept one another?