My mom and I were talking about our favourite books the other night and as usual, I took a pretty long time deliberating and coming up with a mental list of five or so novels straight away. The top spot however, needed no consideration.
“You were smitten with me. You were speechless to behold my beauty. You had never met anyone so fascinating. You thought of me every waking minute. You dreamed about me. You couldn’t stand it. You couldn’t let such wonderfulness out of your sight. You had to follow me.”
It was at a sleepover from eons ago where Lizzie tossed me the pink hardcover (first edition!) and we settled lazily in the reading room. Half an hour later, I was hooked. An ex-archaeology professor who talks to a cactus a.k.a Señor Saguaro? Who would want tacky porcupine neckties? More importantly, who was Stargirl and what was she doing wrecking the atmosphere around her, in all her glory?
So I started to convince my mom that there were other books out there worth reading, besides her regular subscription of reader's digest and the Purpose-Driven Life. After hearing me rattle off a few lovable quirks of Ms. Caraway (flapper dresses to the happy wagon pebble truck), mom said 'So... What makes a stargirl?'
It really got me thinking that beneath the obvious veneer of unique qualities, Susan Caraway's greatest attribute has to be that she has the biggest heart in the whole world. From her throwing-out of nickels and dimes onto the pavement (to the joy of the next six-year-old that comes alond) and her wish to take the world by storm with a shiny fleet of silver lunch trucks, her selflessness is enough to make anyone shed a tear.
So yes, the bunny-hop during prom night was entertaining. Stargirl inventing stories for strangers was amusing and creative. But my favourite scenes show Stargirl kissing Hillary on the cheeks after being freshly-slapped by the latter, or when singing ukelele happy birthday wishes to her embarrased schoolmates. This, truely, is the best we can take away from this powerful novel.
Me? I'm not Stargirl. I'll never be like her. What we can try to do is to embrace the starlight inside us and be someone real. It’s a real challenge, but not altogether impossible :)
“I’m not my name. My name is something I wear, like a shirt. It gets worn. I outgrow it, I change it.”
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