YMMV / Stargirl

Book

• Alternative Character Interpretation:
  • Is Leo a basically good guy who made a mistake and deserves a second chance, or is he a spineless Designated Hero who it would be best if Stargirl never saw again?
    • Several of the things Leo says and does to Stargirl could easily be viewed as emotional abuse.
  • The captain of Mica's basketball team says that seeing Stargirl comfort an opposing team's player when he got injured took the heart out of him. But does he really believe that, or is he just saying it because it's what everyone else agrees with?
• Iron Woobie: Stargirl gets shunned and has her kindnesses rejected by the student body just because she cheers for the other team at basketball games and comforted an opposing player when he got injured, but doesn't let it crush her soul. Or she tries not to.
• First Installment Wins: The sequel is not as popular as the first book, probably because the first book is common reading material for elementary and middle school students.

• Tear Jerker: Several, but the ultimate moment has to be when Stargirl, after changing her behavior, her clothes and even her name to fit in with the other students, wins the grand prize at the speaking competition and triumphantly returns to Mica High only to find that everyone still hates her, when nobody but Dori Dilson and a few teachers show up at what was supposed to be her grand homecoming parade.
  "There was no confetti, no kazoos. Nothing cheered, not even a mockingbird."
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Character: Dori Dilson, as the only person in the school, even including Leo, to not turn on Stargirl, is not given nearly as much focus as she could have been. In the sequel, she's only mentioned a handful of times. In the movie, she's a glorified extra and is never named onscreen.
• Values Dissonance: One of Stargirl's projects is taking many everyday pictures of a little boy named Peter Sinkowitz as he grows up, so she can compile them into a scrapbook and give it to his parents when he's older. Cute when the book was written, but in this day and age, it would probably be considered some form of stalking and/or invasion of privacy (imagine a random stranger telling you they've been taking pictures of your child since he was in preschool). Nowadays, some parents won't even post photos of their children on social media because they're too afraid of the photos being found and used by child predators.
• Why Would Anyone Take Him Back?: Justified in both books and explored; Stargirl has to admit that Leo was a terrible boyfriend who dumped her to conform to peer pressure, and he didn't appreciate her blithe spirit. She even talks with Archie about the fact that she still has feelings for Leo, even though her rebound crush Perry is a genuinely Nice Guy who appreciates her. The only hint that Leo gets that Stargirl has forgiven him is receiving a gift fifteen years later, when presumably they have both grown up and matured, and it may not have been from her. As is befitting Jerry Spinelli, both endings remain ambiguous if Leo can truly earn Stargirl's forgiveness.