Brittany+Jones-Nancy+Dryden

= = = Week 4 Adult___Nancy Dryden_____________ = Student ___Brittany Jones___________ Book Title: ___Stargirl______________ Pages Read___128 to end______ 

-express your opinions about the book To be included in your response… v Summarize this week’s reading. Include your response/reaction to the book. v Did you enjoy the book? Why or why not? v Who else should read this book? Why? v How does the main character change in the story? v What lesson about life (theme) do you think the author was trying to express? v What questions would you like answered after reading this book? v How would you change the ending of the book? Summary In the final installment of //Stargirl// Leo becomes increasingly frustrated with the shunning that has spilled over onto him because of his relationship with Stargirl. Finally he vents his feelings to Stargirl and he tells her plainly that no one likes her and that no one is talking to them because of her unusual behavior culminating with her non-partisan cheering for the other team. Stargirl is baffled by this. She seems not to have noticed it, or even cared that it was occurring. The result of this outburst is that Stargirl “disappears.” She becomes, Susan Carroway, a typical teenager. Gone are the costumes, the sunflower bag and the rat. Leo is ecstatic by this change; however, when the students continue the shunning even after Stargirl wins the state oratorical competition, Stargirl gives up. Leo, who desperately needs peer approval, distances himself from Stargirl. He avoids asking her to the end-of-the-year dance and, in fact, doesn’t go himself. Stargirl attends the dance by herself and characteristically flamboyant, she arrives in a sidecar attached to Dori Dilson’s bike attired in a gorgeous yellow gown. Her aloneness at the ball is startling; but, grownups and students alike find themselves mesmerized by her as she dances solo. When she asks the band to play the bunny hop, most of the students fall in line behind her and she leads them around the dance floor several times and then takes them for a tour of the country club grounds. Hilary Kimble, a popular student who has been the most vocal in her dislike of Stargirl, becomes extremely angry by this display and the attention given to Stargirl by the other students. When the dance line returns and the dance ends, Hilary slaps Stargirl in the face. Stargirl responds by kissing Hilary on the cheek. After that, Stargirl leaves as she came, and no one sees her again. The book ends with an epilogue that follows Leo fifteen years into the future. He has come to realize what he had given away because of social pressure. During his visits back to Mica he observes the lingering effect that Stargirl had on the town and the area high school. He has not married and he continues to look for and think about Stargirl. The book ends with Leo finding an unsigned birthday present containing one porcupine necktie. Discussion Overall, I enjoyed this book very much. It made me think about the role of peer pressure among young people and the price we pay for timidity about what we believe is right or good. I think this would be a great book for every teenager. When I think about Leo in this book, I don’t know that he “changed” very much. I think he matured as he began to understand himself better. He was able to see himself and the world through Stargirl’s eyes and that enabled him to arrive at that awareness. Clearly, Spinelli wants his audience to think about the nature of individualism and the social group. Stargirl, herself, is a kind of wanton celebration of individuality while Leo represents the average teenager who is defined by conformity to the group. I think Spinelli wants his readers to examine their own lives and discover whether or not they are living according to who they really are, or who they think others want them to be. I do not believe I have any questions that I would like to have answered about this book and I do not think I would change the ending. Brittany, I love your response this week! I think you truly captured the essence of Stargirl. My response (above) is a more analytical interpretation of the story (not surpriseing for an adult and/or a lawyer); however, I was really taken by the simplistic beauty of how the book affected you. I think it would do us all good to embrace life the way that you seem to do in your response to //Stargirl//! I look forward to meeting you in person. Nancy Please word process your response and email to Mrs. Shull. I will distribute to the students. =Week 4 Adult: Nancy Dryden = Student: Brittany Jones Book Title: Stargirl Pages Read: 129-end

-Express your opinions about the book

I can honestly say that I understand why Stargirl left, but I thought for the most part the book ended nicely. I think maybe she was there to help the world become one with its self, because I think everything and everyone has or had a purpose in life. Maybe Leo’s was to be the one who came out of his comfort barrier just in time to see the way she made the earth seem like a beautiful, wonderful place because it is. I really loved the book and am so glad I finally read it. The way Spinelli wrote it was amazing. I would recommend this book to anyone who would read it. I think more people should read and this seems like a really good book for readers because it is about being yourself but still helping others. Stargirl changed everyone’s outlook on life, fun, and not to mention philanthropy. I actually would add this to the end of the story …

And after thinking for the longest time I know there was a reason she left. To be hated is terrible especially if you help so many people. But to leave and be remembered is the only way to remain a positive influence on the people of Arizona. I just wish I could run into Stargirl Caraway. Actually, never mind I don’t. I want to remember her just the way she was that night. That’s how we should all remember her.

Brittany

= Week 3 Adult: Nancy Dryden = = = = = = Student: Brittany Jones = = Book Title: Stargirl = = Pages Read: 128 = = = = = = = = -Please focus on the protagonist, the main character, or antagonist, who is = = another important character. = = = = Stargirl is very extreme and she reminds me of a young child, free and loving. She cares about other people. Even ones she doesn’t know. Stargirl doesn’t want to be normal. She has too much fun being different. I don’t think we should try to be like her because we already are like her and if we choose not to express ourselves and be more individual then it’s a choice. I do love how she is so different from normal that you almost wish the story were told from her perspective. I wish I could be privileged enough to know more people like her. She is very fascinating. = = = = = = = = = = = = Directions: This section is for you and your partner to discuss your reading. Include responses, opinions, etc. What do you think will happen next? //You may also chat about other things besides your book.// = = = = = =I think people are way too mean to Stargirl. As different as she may be she’s still a person. Leo is the only person in the book that is sincerely nice to her. He does have his doubts about her but he thinks that she is strangely amazing. Something inside of him seems to recognize that almost instantaneously but these feelings increase as time in the book progresses. I’m sorry I haven’t written sooner but I was sick for most of last week and the rest of the time I had ear appointments. I will try to the next one in really soon. In your letter you asked me if i was rooting for one I think he should stay with Stargirl. I am random in that since but not quite as random. = = = = Week 3 Adult: Nancy Dryden = Student: Brittany Jones Book Title: //Stargirl// Pages Read___62-128____

v

In this weeks reading the author reveals a little more of Leo Borlock’s character and personality. Leo is the kind of boy who likes to quietly fit in. As the director of “The Hotseat,” a popular high school television show that features interviews with a different student each week, Leo gets to be behind the camera while his more outgoing friend Kevin enjoys the limelight. When they tape the show featuring Stargirl things get ugly. Leo finds himself wishing that he had not scheduled her for the show. It is not long after this when Leo discovers that Stargirl likes him and to his surprise, he discovers that he has fallen for her as well. His initial bliss is dampened, however, when he notices that Stargirl is being shunned by the other kids. It doesn’t take long before the chill factor spills over onto him as well. Archie (by way of Senor Saquaro) tells Leo that he must decide whose friendship is more important to him—hers or theirs. Leo knows deep down that this is a decision he must make, but resents the choice and, at least temporarily, avoids it. However, it seems certain that he will not be able to avoid this decision forever.

Leo reminds me of myself as a young person in some ways. He is reserved. He doesn’t want to challenge the status quo and his approach to fitting in is to be generic. While a desire to fit in all the time can be a bad thing, I think Leo does have some admirable personality traits. Leo is willing to be introspective. That is, he is willing to look inside himself with honesty and see what is there. This is what enables him to see Stargirl as being more than a pretender or weird. I would say that this is a quality I would like to acquire if I don’t already possess it. I think Leo is someone that I would like to have been friends with as a highschooler because I can relate to him on some levels.

Brittany, I don’t have a favorite part of the book yet either. I am really enjoying the story, but I think if I am going to have a favorite part, it will come later. I think you are right that Leo and Kevin will eventually have some sort of falling out. Ultimately, I think that Leo will have to answer the question posed by Senor Saquaro—that he must decide whose friendship is more important to him. I think that he will probably make the wrong choice at first; but, in the end he will realize the cost of the wrong choice and do the right thing. Are you rooting for any particular character? I have a niece who reminds me a little of Stargirl. She is unique and she has never really let peer pressure dictate her life. Do you know anyone like Stargirl? In your letter, you told me that “random” was a word that described you. What did you mean by that? Do you think Stargirl is “random” in that sense? I’m eager to hear what you think about the book after we finish it this week.