Saturday, June 30, 2007

Love, Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli

Bookmarks: I lose them. They fall out of the book. I forget to use them. Somehow, a napkin ended up as a bookmark in my ARC of Love, Stargirl. I gobbled this book up. I pulled it close and pushed it away as Alvina does the blond-haired boy. I wasn't sure I wanted a sequel, but still I needed that bookmark so that at any spare moment, I could follow the calendar year as Stargirl writes to Leo. Will she still love him at the end of the book? What of this Perry? And how could I not adore Dootsie? ("I'm gonna be a waffle!")

I thought as I came to the final pages that I might need the napkin as a tissue in case of tears. I did not cry. I don't think Stargirl would have wanted me to cry. Her happy wagon's doing OK, thank you very much. She was lonely and vulnerable. But by the end, she is Stargirl. Strong. As we readers are strong enought to hear her point of view. I appreciate this gift from an author who doesn't do sequels. (I hope the published version will contain the same author's note as the ARC.)