Love, Stargirl

Spinelli, Jerry. Love, Stargirl. Book 2 of the Stargirl series. 288p. 2007. ISBN 978-0-3759-1375-4. Available at FIC SPI on the library shelves.

When Stargirl departed Arizona, she left her heart behind with a boy named Leo. Now living in Pennsylvania, Stargirl has started a new life but she still misses her Leo. Back to being home schooled, Stargirl meets interesting characters in this little town. There is her neighbor Dootsie, a very enthusiastic five-year-old girl who talks all the time. Then there is Betty Lou, who has not stepped out of her house in nine years. Alvina is 11 going on 30. Margie runs the donut shop. Charlie sits all day and grieves at his wife’s grave. Arnold wanders town, asking everyone if they are looking for him. Then there’s Perry, who’s poor and proud, and to whom Stargirl finds herself attracted.

Stargirl intersects the life of each of these characters and touches them in ways she couldn’t have imagined. Told in a long letter to Leo, Stargirl describes her life over the course of a year and how she misses Leo. But as the days pass, and as she gets to know more people in her town, Stargirl realizes that life is what you make of it one day at a time.

Told from Stargirl’s perspective, this story picks up where Stargirl ended, and fills in some of the details Leo wondered about at the end of that book.

If you liked Eleanor and Park, you will enjoy the light romance and growth of Stargirl as she blossoms into a wonderful human being.