Young Adult Book Talk: Stargirl
Brenda Lopez
Background Information
Bibliography
Picture Courtesy of Amazon.com
Book Awards and Honors
- Best Books for Young Adults
- Deleted Audiobooks for Young Children
- New York Times Bestseller
- Young Readers Choice Award
- Parents Choice Gold Award
- Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year
- Arizona Young Readers Award WINNER 2003
- Indiana Young Hoosier Award WINNER 2003
- Iowa Teen Book Award WINNER 2003
- Kentucky Bluegrass Master List WINNER 2002
- Maine Student Book Master List WINNER 2001
- New Jersey Garden State Teen Book Award WINNER 2002
- New York State Charlotte Award WINNER 2004
- Pennsylvania Keystone State Reading Association Book Award WINNER 2003
- Texas Lone Star Reading List WINNER 2001
- Book Sense Book of the Year NOMINEE 2001
- Illinois Rebecca Caudill Young Readers Award NOMINEE 2003
- Maryland Black-Eyed Susan Award NOMINEE 2002
- Massachusetts Children’s Book Award FINALIST 2003
- Massachusetts Children’s Book Master List FINALIST 2003
Summary and Personal Response
Personal Response: I absolutely adored this book. I was immersed within the first pages of the book to see how students react to someone who is not of the norm. I found this book to bring out different emotions because it touches a topic that is so relatable to our world whether you are a student or adult. I think Jerry Spienneli did an amazing job with the story and the characters in it. I think when you read this book, it makes you reflect on yourself and how you treat those around you.I have found it to be a great read and it will be an addition to my classroom library.
Justification
Web-Based Links
This website is designed to provide a five week unit that focuses on the YA novel Stargirl. The website focuses on providing engaging lessons that allow students to make connections to their lives, especially those making an adjustment to entering middle school. Students are provided multiple resources and information to extend the activities and classroom discussions.
Penguin Random House Teacher's Guide
This website is the publisher for the book. I found this website to be extremely helpful as it provides great questions and group discussions for the classrooms. It also provides writing activities and activities beyond the book that tackle the themes of friendship, emotions and feelings, self-esteem, and intergenerational relationships.
Stargirl Discussion Guide-Scholastic
This link is from Scholastic which provides literature circle questions that can be asked when reading this novel in the classroom with the students. This website allows for students to have discussions about analyzing characters and their roles int he book. The questions allow students to reflect on their own school and are able to apply the themes and topics to their lives.
4th Grade TEKS
(3) Reading/Comprehension of Literary Text/Theme and Genre. Students analyze, make inferences and draw conclusions about theme and genre in different cultural, historical, and contemporary contexts and provide evidence from the text to support their understanding. Students are expected to:
(A) summarize and explain the lesson or message of a work of fiction as its theme;
Justification: This YA novel lends itself to great discussion of the theme of non-conforming and peer pressure. This TEKS would easily applied in the classroom through classroom discussions and classrooms activities which will engage all students.
(6) Reading/Comprehension of Literary Text/Fiction. Students understand, make inferences and draw conclusions about the structure and elements of fiction and provide evidence from text to support their understanding. Students are expected to:
(B) describe the interaction of characters including their relationships and the changes they undergo;
Justification: The book lends itself to use more than one character to and understand the changes they undergo. Both Stargirl and Leo can be used to support this TEKS through activities that help the reader understand elements of fiction by using activities such as compare and contrast to help students see the changes undergone by the characters.
Application To The Classroom: Listening/Speaking/Reading/Writing
Activity #1
Before students have read the book, the teacher will provide students with an Anticipation Guide. This guide will allow students to make predictions about the text and have students defend their opinions. This activity will allow for students to write their ideas and answers, speak to others by sharing their thoughts, and listening to their peer's responses while being open-minded to their responses.
Activity #2
After reading the book, students will complete a plot analysis of the novel. Students will need to identify characters, setting, and conflict. In groups, students will identify the rising action that lead up to the climax by describing events from the novel. Students will also identify the turning point and falling action. Students will use evidence to the text to support their answers and explain their findings to the classroom.
Activity #3
Activity #4
Literature Linked to Stargirl
Weetzie, the main character, has a sense of style that is different to her peers. She is thrift store chic crossed with early 80s punk. Like Stargirl, she is confident in her style and in the way she carries herself. This book tackles conformity and high school drama but also tackles a lot more, from family problems to AIDS. Although this book may tackle some more serious issues, it can be a good continuation to Stargirl.
Picture courtesy of Amazon.com
Annie, the main character in this book, is on a journey to find herself as major changes happen in her life. She goes through family problems, drama with friends, she tries to find herself and where she fits in.
Picture cotters of Amazon.com
Student Interview
Teacher Interview
How many students and what types of books are in the class library?
I have about 150 books in my classroom. My collection of books are from donated books and books I buy myself. My books range from picture books to chapter books as I have taught in lower grades and I have kept them to have books available for my struggling students.
Do you have a specific time for sustained silent reading in the classroom?
Yes, I allow my students to read during breakfast, right after lunch, and before dismissal. I chose these times because it allows the students to settle down and get in fifteen minutes to read without interruptions. I also have reading nooks in my classroom that students can use if they finish their work and have a few minutes to spare.
How often and how long is reading time?
This is happens on a daily basis and it is 15-20 minutes at a time.
Do you use YA novels? Why or why not?
Yes, we use YA novels in class and have actually added them to our curriculum. As a class, we will read a novel per six weeks and target specific skills that can be applied to their standardized tests such as summarization, character analysis, etc. We also target novels that will make our students international minded as we are an IB campus.
Librarian Interview
Does librarian order young adult books based on the lists of recent award winners? If so, which award lists?
Not only from recent award winners, because some books are new releases and have only had preliminary reviews, but I might order them based on the success of the series or author. Many of our books are based on a review or award criteria. Some award lists include:
YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults
William C. Morris YA Debut Award/Nominees
Kirkus Reviews (starred
Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy
Goodreads
Lone Star Reading List
The amount of YA books is limited since the majority of our population is under 10 years of age, but I am building up the collection to include higher interests levels for varied tastes.
How does the librarian feature new books, award winning titles?
Books are highlighted in specified shelves in the library, social media, or featured on table tops and updated throughout the year. One of the unique components of McAllen ISD is the digital advantage we have as a one-to-one district. This allows us our students to be able to access digital libraries through database subscriptions; students can view new releases by publishers in record time through Destiny Discover, MackinVia, Brain Hive, or OverDrive, to name a few. When students login, featured books are scrolled at the top of the page by popularity or recently added.
What trends in circulation has the librarian noted?
One trend in particular is the increase in checkouts of books featured. If students view book trailers or listen to a recommendation by a teacher or librarian, they all want to check out copies of that book.
What books do students tend to check out?
Students at Roosevelt Elementary tend to check out books in the graphic novels, Fly Guy series, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, or anything by Mo Willems.
Research & Bibliography
Beach, R., Appleman, D., Fecho, Bl, & Simon, R. (2016) Teaching Literature to Adolescents. (3rd edition), New York, NY: Taylor & Francis.
http://www.ala.org/awardsgrants/content/stargirl
https://www.bookbrowse.com/reading_guides/detail/index.cfm/book_number/582/stargirl#reading_guide This site has reading guide questions that could be used by the teacher or students for class discussion.
https://www.scholastic.com/teachers/lesson-plans/teaching-content/stargirl-lesson-plan/ This site includes a lesson plans on Stargirl.
Books like Stargirl. (2013, October 3). Retrieved from https://study.com/academy/lesson/books-like-stargirl.html#lesson
4th Grade TEKS. (2017, August ) Retrieved from:
https://tea.texas.gov/WorkArea/DownloadAsset.aspx?id=51539609686