Stargirl, by Jerry Spinelli
2.5/5 - "Maybe the real manic pixie dream girl was actually the lessons we learned along the way."
I'm too nitpicky to like this book
-The themes lacked necessary nuance and boiled the conflict down to an immature black-and-white depiction of the actual topic. Non-conformity = good, conformity = bad. Leo was wrong to tell Stargirl that she should conform to the schools silly social norms, but he wasn't wrong to tell her that crossing boundaries and invading privacy is bad. Even if her intentions are innocent, you need permission to take pictures of people, and you need an invitation to private family gatherings. People don't get mad at you for crossing boundaries because they 'just don't understand you,' they get mad because you crossed a line.
-It felt outdated when it comes to the general discussion of the topic. I know it's 20 years old, but I guess that means it didn't age well.
-Stargirl is not that weird. Even though that's the point of the book. Wearing bright clothes and bringing a ukulele to school is normal I see it every week.
Okay I'm done.