Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli.

Stargirl Carraway is the new student at Mica High School in Arizona. She brings something that is lacking in the school's environment: individuality. She turns heads everywhere with her floor length prairie dresses, her ukulele, and her pet rat, Cinnamon. She astounds the students, and soon, rises to popularity. The students at Mica High realize that there is something beyond conformity.


Before long the students turn on Stargirl, ostracizing her and her boyfriend Leo, who fell in love with her after just one smile.

This book- oh my goodness, beyond words. It is absolutely beautiful. There is something beyond robots who dress the same, talk the same, listen to the same music. Stargirl, who changes the school from the first moment she walks in, brings that to them.

I'm actually still halfway through this book, so I can't tell you much about the ending. I wanted to write this while it was still fresh. Going into this book, I expected Stargirl to be someone beautiful and perfect and different, not the freckled homeschooler that she is. I love how it's narrated by Leo, and how much you connect with him. This book is beautiful. Read it, please.

Edit: I just finished it, and it made me cry, in the very best way. Finishing this book felt like losing a friend. Stargirl was enchanting. "When a Stargirl cries, she does not shed tears, but light."