How we cite our quotes:
Quote #1
Her back was to us, so I couldn't see her face. No one sat with her, but at the tables next to hers kids were cramming two to a seat. She didn't seem to notice. She seemed marooned in a sea of staring, buzzing faces (1.25).
Here's Leo's rather vivid description of how Mica High's society responds to Stargirl's first day in the cafeteria. She is the new girl and very different, so everyone's a bit on edge. She has ruffled their feathers.
Quote #2
He played on no sports team, joined no organization, won no awards, earned no A's. He was elected to nothing, honored for nothing—and yet, though I did not realize this until years later, he was grand marshal of our daily parade (4.6).
Wow, Wayne Parr sounds like quite the prize. But if Wayne has done nothing special, nothing notable, why in the world does Mica High worship him so much? Who wants to be so boring? Not Shmoop, that's for sure.
Quote #3
By then, most of us had decided that we liked having her around […] At the same time, we held back. Because she was different. Different (5.16).
Even when the students start to accept Stargirl, they cannot do so completely. Nope, she's just too different. It's like they're caught between their desire to conform and their desire to let loose, like Stargirl. Which desire is more powerful?
Quote #4
Ironically, as we discovered and distinguished ourselves, a new collective came into being—a vitality, a presence, a spirit that had not been there before (9.6).
Sometimes, we really have to give Leo some props. He can be really wise, when he's on his game, like in this moment, when he notices that when individuality is appreciated by the group, the group itself becomes stronger. But how exactly does that work? What is it about embracing individuality that makes the group more spirited, more successful, more vital?
Quote #5
"Why can't you be normal?"
"Why do you wanna be so different?"
"Yeah—is something wrong with us, you gotta be so different?" (13.75-77).
In this moment, as she's sitting there on "Hot Seat," we can't t help but wish Stargirl had thrown these questions back in their faces: Why do you want to be normal? Why don't you want to be different? Is there something wrong with being different that makes you all be the same?
Quote #6
"They're not talking to her."
The words didn't stick. "What do you mean? Who's 'they'?"
He cocked his head at the sea of tables and eaters.
"Them."
"Who them?" I said too unhinged to laugh at my grammar.
He wet his lips. "All of them." He shrugged (18.32-35).
It's the moment of truth for poor Leo. This conversation with Kevin is when he realized he has been banished from Mica High society. The conversation is revealing in other ways, too, because Kevin is showing us the power of "Them." The mysterious collective meant to include all the people out there whose opinions we care about for whatever reason. In this case, it's the high school society that has chosen to shun Stargirl, and by association, Leo. This is the "them" that Leo must decide if he cares about more than Stargirl.
Quote #7
Unlike Stargirl, I was aware of the constant anger of our schoolmates, seething like snakes under a porch. In fact, I was not only aware of it, but at time I also understood their point of view […] I saw. I heard. I understood. I suffered. But whose sake was I suffering for? I kept thinking of Señor Saguaro's question: Whose affection do you value more, hers or the others'?
I became angry. I resented having to choose. I refused to choose. I imagined my life without her and without them, and I didn't like it either way (23.8-10).
Even though we're not the biggest fans of how Leo treats Stargirl, we can toss some sympathy his way. It is really tough being a social pariah (that's pariah, not piranha). This is a terrible situation to be placed in. It is not at all comfortable, especially since he connects a lot of his identity to belonging to this group. On the other hand, he can't imagine not having Stargirl. This dude's a mess. He better get his act together and choose, yes?
Quote #8
"I'm invisible," I said to Kevin at lunch. "Nobody hears me. Nobody sees me. I'm the friggin' invisible man."
[…]
"What did I do?" My voice was louder than I intended.
He chewed. He stared. At last he said, "You know what you did."
I had linked myself to an unpopular person.
That was my crime (24.24-32).
Crime is a strong word, but it fits when you consider how terribly the school is treating Leo and Stargirl. No wonder Leo seems to be breaking under the stress. He feels like the invisible man, and in many ways, he is. Or at least he might as well be.
Quote #9
"Stargirl, you just can't do things the way you do. If you weren't stuck in a homeschool all your life, you'd understand. You can't just wake up in the morning and say you don't care what the rest of the world think."
Her eyes were wide, her voice peepy like a little girl's.
"You can't?"
"Not unless you want to be a hermit" (25.40-42).
Whose side are you taking in this argument? Is Leo right? Does being too strange, too outside the norm, mean you'll have to live like a hermit? Does Stargirl have a point in implying that conforming is, well, pointless? It's a tough call.
Quote #10
"The point is in a group everybody acts pretty much the same, that's kind of how the group holds itself together."
"Everybody?" she said.
"Well, mostly, I said. That's what jails and mental hospitals are for, to keep it that way."
"You think I should be in jail?" she said.
"I think you should try to be more like the rest of us" (25.47).
In this heartbreaking exchange, Leo is explaining to Stargirl why in order for them to stay together, she must change. He doesn't understand that if she does change, they still won't be together because she will not be herself anymore. He'll be dating someone entirely new, and someone profoundly less awesome. Or maybe he does understand, and is too immature to care.