Skip to main content

STARGIRL by Jerry Spinelli

First Edition cover
STARGIRL

Author : Jerry Spinelli
Published year : 2000
Language : English
Pages : 186
Cover Artist by Jerry Spinelli


"Nobody has the time; the time cannot be owned"_ Jerry Spinelli

"The trouble with the miracles is, they don't last long."_Jerry Spinelli





The story started with the arrival of new-goofy-classmate, Stargirl. I mean what kind of people has a name of Stargirl. It can't be her true name! And then just as eccentric as her name, Stargirl start her own strange ritual in the public like singing happy birthday to each kid whom has the birthday in canteen, she brings ukulele to the school, and has a rat pet sitting in her shoulder.

The coming of Stargirl in Mica High School is phenomenal. Soon, she quickly become popular and then invited to become Cheerleaders. Right after she is cheering, their basketball team which always ordinary and seldom to win, suddenly unbeatable. The team is loved by the entire students and suddenly they are become fanatics with their team.

And Stargirl always be a stargirl, when they entered state-competition, suddenly stargirl cheering the opposite team. She do it frequently and what the tip of iceberg happen when Stargirl help the "enemy" when he is hurt.

Like a massive tsunami, every student in Mica High hate her, despise her and give a silent treatment to her. She is no longer exist, every body ignore her like she is lost into thin air.

And there is a boy, who watch her closely since the day she arrived. The boy is too shy to admit that he fond of her and stargirl help him to reveal his feeling.

Soon the story is started like me and you vs the world.
***


Pardon me if I am describe it like  any other cliche love story. But in fact it is not!
Stunned by a very eye catching and minimalist cover, I had no hesitation to buy the book right away. Yes, I believe I judge a book from it's cover (though I've been deceived so many times).

The cover is described well the contents. The strangeness and the homeliness.

Narrated from the point of view of ordinary people to see the saint-girl like star girl make everything is well received. Like I know exactly who stargirl is and she's been there as my own highschool mystery.

And what matter the most it is sweet love story of ordinary high schoolers yet delivered beautifully.
Leo's ( the protagonist) cowardliness is acceptable, and will usually done by ordinary person. We called it as realistic person (in a sarcastic way).

Actually this story of stargirl is ticklish. It is poke our self awareness and conscience, us as ordinary person deal with un-ordinary people which is funny because the un-ordinary people is just being ordinary self.  We, people live at the same corridor of live and when someone is slightly out of the way, we simply judge him/her, and exile him/her.

Yes the story is simple but it is much meaning if we dig it deeper and deeper. This is another allegory masterpiece that bring my conscience to be touched. This is kinda book that will make me ask my self;

How far I am become ordinary to my self?

And

What have I done to punished them-the most original one with my judgement?


This is like self awakening to those-the unconscious phonies whom have been drove into ordinariness.


Bravo Mr. Spinelli!

 

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

No Longer Human by Osamu Dazai

No Longer Human Author : Osamu Dazai Year 1st Published : 1948 Publisher : Tuttle *** The poignant and fascinating story of a young man who is caught between the breakup of the traditions of a northern Japanese aristocratic family and the impact of Western ideas. Portraying himself as a failure, the protagonist of Osamu Dazai's  No Longer Human  narrates a seemingly normal life even while he feels himself incapable of understanding human beings. Oba Yozo's attempts to reconcile himself to the world around him begin in early childhood, continue through high school, where he becomes a "clown" to mask his alienation, and eventually lead to a failed suicide attempt as an adult. Without sentimentality, he records the casual cruelties of life and its fleeting moments of human connection and tenderness. *** Pernah membaca karya Haruki Murakami? Franz Kafka? Albert Camus?  Jika Ya untuk ketiganya, maka kamu tidak akan asing dengan No Longer Human milik Osamu...
6 comments
Read more

Counterattack at Thirty by Sohn Won-Pyung

  Playbooks Edition From the bestselling author of ALMOND, The Devil Wears Prada meets The Office in this witty, humane, and ultimately transformative story of a group of young workers who rebel against the status quo. Jihye is an ordinary woman who has never been extraordinary. In her administrative job at the Academy, she silently tolerates office politics and the absurdities of Korean bureaucracy. Forever only one misplaced email away from career catastrophe, she effectively becomes a master of the silent eye-roll and the tactical coffee run. But all her efforts to endure her superiors and the semi-hostile work environment they create are upended when a new intern, Gyuok Lee, arrives. Like a pacifist version of V in V for Vendetta, Gyuok recruits a trio of office allies to carry out plans for minor revenge. Together, these four “rebels” commit tiny protests against those in more powerful positions through spraying graffiti, throwing eggs, and writing anonymous exposés. But as th...
Post a Comment
Read more

Dead-End Memories by Banana Yoshimoto

  Dead-End Memories First published in Japan in 2003 and never-before-published in the United States,  Dead-End Memories  collects the stories of five women who, following sudden and painful events, quietly discover their ways back to recovery. Among the women we meet in  Dead-End Memories  is a woman betrayed by her fiancé who finds a perfect refuge in an apartment above her uncle's bar while seeking the real meaning of happiness. In "House of Ghosts", a daughter of a yōshoku restaurant owner encounters the ghosts of a sweet elderly couple who haven't yet realized that they have been dead for years. In "Tomo-chan's Happiness", an office worker who is a victim of sexual assault finally catches sight of the hope of romance. Yoshimoto's gentle, effortless prose reminds us that one true miracle can be as simple as having someone to share a meal with and that happiness is always within us if only we take a moment to pause and reflect. Discover this colle...
Post a Comment
Read more