Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Stargirl, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Individuality and Conformity
Human Nature
Seeing, Visibility, and Invisibility
Friendship, Love, and Social Pressure
Summary
Analysis
Around Thanksgiving, things begin to change. By December, Stargirl has become the most popular student at Mica High. Leo can’t quite account for the change. Her untiring antics on the football field—joining the other team’s cheerleaders, playing her ukulele with the band, and climbing up the goalposts—delight the crowds despite the Electrons’ losses. It might also be a backlash against Hillari Kimble, who threatened to drop Cinnamon, Stargirl’s rat, down the stairs. Or it could be Dori Dilson, an inconspicuous 9th grader who is the first to sit with Stargirl at lunch.
Mica High students begin to thaw toward Stargirl. They continue to find her nonconformity entertaining and harmless, and accordingly, they disapprove of overt hostility toward her, such as Hillari’s cruelty.
Themes
Or could it be the students body as a whole? Whatever the reason, Stargirl is no longer considered dangerous, but is sought-after in the hallways of Mica High. Both boys and girls, shy and popular, athletic and nerdy kids are drawn to her. Kids start playing the ukulele, dancing in the rain, and buying pet rats.
Ironically, kids show appreciation for Stargirl’s individuality by conforming to some of her quirky behaviors—suggesting that, despite their newfound warmth and no longer holding her at arm’s length, the students of Mica High still don’t quite understand what Stargirl is all about.
Themes
In December, Stargirl enters the League of Women Voters’ oratorical competition. She gives a spirited performance called “Elf Owl, Call Me by My First Name” to raucous applause. While the judges confer, the students watch a short film about last year’s state final, which concludes with the winner being mobbed by cheerleaders, a band, and confetti when he arrives home. Then, Stargirl is announced as the winner, advancing to the district competition in Red Rock. With their cheers, and with all the attention the Mica High students give Stargirl, they “also gave something to ourselves.”
The video of last year’s winner—though she doesn’t even realize it yet—frames Stargirl’s expectations for the outcome of the oratorical competition, something that will come back to bite her in a heartbreaking way. For now, though, Stargirl and her classmates simply enjoy one another. Just opening up to someone like Stargirl is its own reward for kids who’ve complacently aligned with the status quo.
Themes
