Them

We all know about them.   You know, those people.  They wouldn't like it, they wouldn't wear it, they wouldn't do that.  I'd like to say that this group mentality and the need to fit into that group ends in middle school, but any adult readers of this blog know that that's not true. 

But every now and then you get someone who doesn't care about them.  Not just says they don't care, but actually honestly does not care about what 'they' think.  This is Stargirl in Jerry Spinelli's Stargirl.  When she transfers from homeschooling to the local high school she causes quite the stir.  

How do you even react to someone who is so other, who is so 'not them?'   The students at Mica High can't seem to figure it out.  First they are confused by her, then they love her, then they hate her, then they love her again.   Her ukulele and prairie skirts aren't even the strangest things about her.  She sings happy birthday to everyone, she sends anonymous cards, she genuinely does not notice what other people think of her.  

Stargirl does participate in a few 'normal' aspects of high school life (with her own spin on them of course). She's a cheerleader and she has a boyfriend -Leo.  Even though Stargirl is the title character the book is from Leo's perspective.  He's caught in the middle.  On the one hand, he's enamored by Stargirl, he sees all of the delightful things about her.  On the other hand, Leo cares about 'them,'  and he sees that 'they' do not always respond kindly to Stargirl-and, by extension, him. 

If I had to sum up this book in two words I would say, 'delightfully quirky.'

Being you...that's kids stuff.