Zach Zeyak , 12, is a 6th grader at Ichabod Crane Middle School from North Chatham. In the reading class he attends at ICMS, the students read the novel “Stargirl,” about a high school girl and boy, named Stargirl and Leo, who try to conform (and not conform) with their classmates. Here is Zach’s book review, submitted by his teacher Tracey Gold.
Teachers interested in submitting their students’ work for publication in the Columbia Paper should email eteasdale@columbiapaper.com.
Book Review
“Stargirl”
by Zachary Zeyak
“Stargirl” is a realistic fiction novel by Jerry Spinelli. It is about a boy and a new girl, who are trying to fit into a high school. This novel takes place in Arizona during present day.
Stargirl was a very different and interesting character. Until the 26th chapter she was the one person at school who was different from everyone else. Stargirl liked to cheer for everyone including opposing sports teams. For instance, at the basketball games she cheered for the other team when they got a basket. She also had her own “enchanted places” that she liked to go to after school which was really different, and made good use of the Arizona setting.
“Stargirl,” the book, also had a very strange story structure. Throughout the book it was slow at a point and then it sped up. Also, in the beginning it did not fully introduce the characters so it is up to the reader to develop the understanding of them throughout the book. For example, I did not know that Senor Saguaro was a cactus, not a person, until the end. One more thing, at the end it jumped ahead unexpectedly to an older Stargirl and Leo and to what became of them. These things kind of confused the story structure.
In 2016, the movie “Stargirl” will come out based on the novel. It will be interesting to see how the movie is compared to the book.
I recommend “Stargirl” because I thought it was pretty interesting but I’m warning you that it is a strange and different book.
