How we cite our quotes:
Quote #1
I observed her as if she were a bird in an aviary. One day I turned a corner and there she was, coming right at me, the long skirt softly rustling, looking straight at me, surrounding me with those eyes. I turned and trotted off the other way. Seating myself in my next class, I felt warm, shaken. I wondered if my foolishness showed. Was I myself becoming goofy? The feeling I had had when I saw her around the corner had been something like panic (3.39).
Leo and Stargirl sittin' in a tree. Can't you hear the sing-songy taunt now? He doesn't know it yet, but he's got what Shmoop calls "The Feeling" for Stargirl. It is the first delightful and terrifying step toward love. No, this isn't love itself. This is the warming-up part. The part that usually fades the longer you get to know someone and start actually loving them.
Quote #2
She stood at my shoulder and looked down at me, smiling and singing, and I didn't know whether to look down at my hands or up at her face, so I did some of each. My face was burning… "Why him?"
Stargirl tilted her head, as if studying me. She grinned mischievously. She tugged on my earlobe and said, "He's cute." And walked off.
I was feeling nine ways at once, and they all ended up at the touch of her hand on my ear—(6.17-19).
Feeling nine ways at once? Sounds like love to Shmoop. Isn't it great when you find out the crush you are crushing on is crushing on you back? Yup. That is one the best feelings in the world.
Quote #3
Just two weeks before, I had found out she knew my name, and now I was loopy with love. I was floating. I floated up the white light that washed my sheets and slept on the moon. In school I was a yellow balloon, smiling and lazy, floating above the classrooms. I felt a faint tug on my string. Far below, Kevin was calling, "You're in love, dude!" I merely smiled and rolled over and drifted dreamily out a window (17.1).
Leo uses some fantastic images and metaphors here to describe the feeling of new love. This is the time after the crazy panicky moments when you just aren't sure that the other person feels about you the way you feel about them. This is describing the time right after you know that the feelings are shared. Totally warm and fuzzy like a warm sweater on a freezing day. Or, like Leo says, like you are floating above the world without a care or concern and you don't ever want to come down.
Quote #4
"Why don't you leave a card or something with your name on it?"
The question surprised her. "Why should I?"
Her question surprised me. "Well, I don't know, it's just the way people do things. They expect it. They get a gift, they expect to know where it came from" (20.28-30).
Stargirl gives gifts out of her honest feeling of love for her fellow man. She does not want or need any recognition as a result. To leave a gift without any acknowledgement of who the giver is, is a truly kind act because it's all about the love and not the credit.
Quote #5
"There's also the place where I get my hair cut. I always overhear good stuff there. And of course there're the bulletin boards" (21.113)
Stargirl is always listening for information that she can use to bring a little happiness to someone. Her love of all of humanity is very strong, and it feeds her powers of observation. She's literally looking for opportunities to love. How many of us really do that?
Quote #6
Look at you. It's Saturday. I've been with you all day, and you've spent the whole day doing stuff for other people. Or taking pictures of other people" (22.69).
Leo is amazed at Stargirl's endless capacity to care about so many people and her unending energy to do so. But don't you kind of wish Stargirl's love were a little more commonplace?
Quote #7
"Did you see it?"
I nodded. I kept walking.
"Well?" She was hopping beside me, punching my shoulder. "Wha'd you think?"
What could I say? I didn't want to hurt her feelings. I just shrugged (24.17-14).
Uh oh, big-time trouble in paradise. That phase of early infatuation is fading and some tough relationship stuff is brewing. It seems like we should be mad at Leo here, and we're not saying we shouldn't be; however, do you think maybe Stargirl should have taken Leo's feelings into consideration before she put up the big sign proclaiming her love? I mean, she must know how shy he is, considering how observant she is about everyone, right? So what gives? Why did she do it?
Quote #8
She looked like a hundred other girls at Mica High. Stargirl had vanished into a sea of them, and I was thrilled… I grabbed her and squeezed her. I had never been so happy and so proud in my life (26.7).
Love makes you do some crazy stuff, but losing your identity because some dude doesn't like the real you is the most tragic of all. Leo may be thrilled, but just look at the word choice. She has vanished. How is that a good thing?
Quote #9
"I'm giving up on trying to be popular and normal." Her face and body language did not seem to match her words. She looked cheery, perky. So did Cinnamon, perched on her shoulder.
"Don't you think maybe you should back off a little?" I said. "Don't come on so strong?"
She smiled at me. She reached out and brushed the tip of my nose with her fingertip. "Because we live in a world of them, right? You told me that once."
We stared at each other. She kissed me on the cheek and walked away. She turned and said, "I know you're not going to invite me to Ocotillo Ball. It's okay" (30.11-14).
You go girl. Seriously. We've never been prouder of Stargirl than we are in this very moment. It's a great example of self-love. Even though this is the breakup scene, Stargirl is cheery and perky because she knows that her own self matters more than whether or not anyone likes her. And the best part is, she dumps Leo without saying one mean word. Now that's classy.
Quote #10
I wonder if I'll ever get another chance. I wonder, but I don't despair. Though I have no family of my own, I do not feel alone. I know that I am being watched. The echo of laughter is the second sunrise I awaken to each day, and at night I feel it is more than starts looking down on me. Last month, one day before my birthday, I received a gift-wrapped package in the mail. It was a porcupine necktie (Epilogue.10).
Ah, the words of an older, wiser Leo. Do you think Leo was just too immature at the time he knew Stargirl? Maybe he just wasn't ready for the real kind of love she was offering. Do you think that now, as an adult, he would be able to love her true self? We hope so, but he had better love his true self, first.