The book "Stargirl" by Jerry Spinelli explores various aspects of human behavior and offers insights into major problems of humanity through the eyes of a young and innocent girl. The main focus on the novel is on Stargirl's individuality and other people's reactions towards it. Stargirl is different from the rest of the children at her school in many different ways. She chose her own name, she was homeschooled, she dressed differently, and she acted differently. She didn't relate to many of her classmates because of these, but mainly because she didn't care what anyone else thought of her. She was bold; she said and did what she wanted to without worrying what anyone else thought of it. Spinelli creates this character in a world where everyone else acts the same, wearing the same clothes, listening to the same music, acting the same way. His story is a reflection of the real world and how uniqueness is perceived. In a world so focused on media, on fitting in and conforming to a societal norm, Stargirl is a refreshing change of scenery.
At first Stargirl is something to marvel at, her peculiarity is intriguing to many, but as time goes on people become intimidated by her indifference to their opinions. They begin to ignore and shun her, simply because of her differences. This is a turning point in the novel which clearly unveils people's tendency to resent what is different from themselves. Stargirl's self-confidence is a danger to their society and the way it is run. This is again reflected on a bigger scale where being different is frowned upon and is discouraged by societal influences.
Stargirl is not bothered by other people's reactions to her until her close friend Leo gets frustrated with her and asks why she won't simply change to become "normal". Leo's opinion is very important to Stargirl and since she sees that this issue is important to him, she begins to change to become more liked by her peers. She changes her name to Susan, buys name brand clothes and begins to act like everyone else. At first she pretends that she is happy with the person she has become and wants to please others. However, as time goes on we begin to see the gradual sadness creep into her life as she continues day upon day to act like someone she is not. She is not happy with who she has become and this is noticed in the little changes in her behavior and her happiness bucket becomes more and more empty. This part of the book also shows how much people are willing to do for love, in this case even abandoning their own identity.
At the same time this part of the plot shows us another human flaw, selfishness. This is portrayed through the character Leo, Stargirl's closest and only friend at her new school. In private he enjoys Stargirl's company, and loves her unique personality, however he is strongly influenced by his friends and peers at school and becomes embarrassed about her when others are around. Slowly he begins to plead Stargirl to change and become "normal" so that he can gain the approval and redemption in the eyes of his school mates. He begins to disregard Stargirl's feelings and force his ideas on her. Even when he starts to notice how sad she is becoming, he chooses to ignore her feeling to protect himself. Leo is an example of a good and kind person who has become too influenced and changed by society, which slowly turns him into a negative influence and a selfish person.
At the end of the book, Stargirl rejects "Susan Caraway" the persona that she adopted to fit in and instead recognizes that she is happiest when she is her own person and acts the way she wants to instead of the way that society expect her too. Spinelli writes a novel that explores in depth the human uniqueness and individuality and Stargirl's journey to accepting herself as well as the effects of peer pressure and the expectations of other people and their influence on different types of people.
