Like Stargirl, this novel’s writing is simple and can be read in a single sitting. We shared our dreams.” Love, Stargirl, page 110 We held hands through the opened door and sang soft songs by turns to each other. “We tasted moon and moths and all brief things. And Stargirl’s interactions with all of them highlighted not only her innate kindness, but also her ability to empathize and see the world with a star-tinted optimism. Alvina, the angry tween torn between fighting boys and liking them, was a bit annoying, but nonetheless a character many can identify with. Charlie, the quiet old man at the cemetery who visits his wife’s grave every day, grounded me in a reality that is experienced every day. I especially love the connection that developed between her and Stargirl during her flower’s blooming. Betty Lou, her agoraphobic neighbor, offers advice and provides a secluding comfort at different points throughout the novel-Archie’s replacement, in a way. Dootsie, AKA a waffle, is a spunky 6-year-old who brings Stargirl joy and follows her shenanigans. The rest of the characters (and there were a lot of new people to meet) were, for the most part, a delight. I adored getting to know Stargirl in her own voice. Her narration is comforting and relatable while still retaining its genuinely thoughtful and strange nature.
The nonconformity remains part of Stargirl, but it’s expressed in a different way, in a different environment, while simultaneously giving Stargirl the agency to feel something for herself for once.
She spends a lot of time pining over Leo, trying to understand her newfound emotions for Perry, and struggling to come to terms with her loneliness and sadness. Although Stargirl’s voice seemed a bit off (or perhaps just not what I was expecting the girl who rained magic to sound like), I took it to mean she was maturing, reflecting on what she wanted and why her and Leo’s breakup hurt her so bad. Turning the focus to Stargirl’s personality allowed Spinelli to explore her as a human being (or “bean,” according to the sweet Dootsie) instead of this mysterious, ethereal embodiment of individualism that we saw with Leo narrating in Stargirl-and I absolutely loved that aspect of this book. Like Spinelli’s previous novel, the highlight of Love, Stargirl is the cast of characters. “Tell me that even though our bodies were in separate states, our star selves shared an enchanted place.” Love, Stargirl, page 72 In each entry, Stargirl reminisces on her bittersweet time at Mica High with Leo, her new interactions with the unique people she’s met, and of course, who she is and how she views life, love, and the perks of nonconformity. In the course of a year, readers follow Stargirl’s new life after moving away. Love, Stargirl, told in the world’s longest letter, picks up immediately after Spinelli’s 2000 novel Stargirl.
I found that in many ways, Stargirl’s narrative in the sequel complicates and enhances who she was in Stargirl. I loved her voice and the new cast of characters she encountered after her time at Mica.
LOVE STARGIRL SYNOPSIS FULL
Returning to it years later, it was a refreshing read, full of magic and kindness like its predecessor, only this time from Stargirl’s point of view. Review: I very briefly remember devouring this book in elementary school after reading Stargirl, but I didn’t remember much of it beyond Stargirl’s happy wagon.
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