March Book Club: Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli

What a crazy bunch of reading nuts we are to brave the frigid winter weather to get together and discuss our book. We regretted not flying down to Arizona and having a private one on one discussion with Gena about her book but despite the cold we had a heart warming discussion about facing challenges and what success looks like. We learned interesting things about each other and had some really good laughs. Thank you Alicia for choosing this book and for hosting.

We will be meeting on the first WEDNESDAY of the month during the rest of this year.

Tansy will host our next book club meeting on Wednesday March 5th at 7pm. Her book pick is:

                      

Goodreads review says:   From the day she arrives at quiet Mica High in a burst of color and sound, hallways hum “Stargirl.” She captures Leo Borlock’s heart with one smile. She sparks a school-spirit revolution with one cheer. The students of Mica High are enchanted. Until they are not. Leo urges her to become the very thing that can destroy her - normal.

A Goodreads reader says:   Stargirl is an amazing book about individuality and nonconformism. A home-schooled girl named Stargirl begins attending the public high school for her sophomore year. Stargirl is different.
She learns everybody's birthdays and on the day of, she sings them a happy birthday song -- accompanying herself on the ukulele -- in the middle of the lunch room, whether they want her to or not. She watches a young boy who lives across the street so that she can create a scrapbook for him without his knowledge. She is, in almost every way, unconventional.
The voice of the book is a young man who becomes fascinated by Stargirl and befriends her, even though many of her antics make her an outcast, otherwise. Through a series of events, she becomes wildly popular, then widely despised. For this boy, she experiments with being conventional for awhile.
The book is fascinating. It explores a lot of issues centered around social conventions and how they play in our lives for good or ill. And they take place at a stage of life when kids are most susceptible to peer pressure. Jerry Spinelli's insights are thought-provoking and engaging. In the end, the book makes you want to be a better person, perhaps in ways that aren't quite "normal." It reminds me of a talk given by Dallin H. Oaks, in which he said, "... This requires us to make some changes from our family culture, our ethnic culture, or our national culture. We must change all elements of our behavior that are in conflict with gospel commandments, covenants, and culture." The genius of it is that the book does this without being particularly preachy.

A reading suggestion from Debbie is from a blog that she found recently. It is called The Moments we Stand. It is very well written as she shares  insights about the tragic events in her life and how the atonement and the gospel has helped her get her life back. This is worth checking out.

Thanks for a great evening as always and see you next month.