Love, Stargirl

Several characters overcome isolating and destructive behaviors in this section, and questions are answered as Stargirl listens to her heart and at last resolves the long-avoided issue “What about Leo?” (260). Stargirl regains her sense of self and true love reigns. Themes of community and connection come to completion, as the town the Solstice celebration highlights the power of nature to join people past and present.

Perry’s kiss answers Stargirl’s question: Leo is the only one for her. While the sunrise provided the magic for her kiss with Perry, Leo himself was the magic behind his and Stargirl’s “Forever Kiss.” Stargirl is once again sure of herself. She understands that she, like everyone, needs to be seen, known, and valued for who she is. Along with the outpouring of community support and Betty Lou’s advice to live in the moment, this understanding helps restore Stargirl’s confidence. Stargirl reaches peace with her past when she answers Arnold’s perennial question “Are you looking for me?” (246) with a yes. As Charlie does with Stargirl, she experiences catharsis in sharing and reliving her memories with Arnold. Stargirl, recognizes, however, that like Arnold, she has been looking back too much. Now, with Leo’s positive answer to her telepathic question, Stargirl looks forward to whatever the future brings, confident that by living authentically, the fates will bring her and Leo together again.

The Winter Solstice celebration reveals how Stargirl’s influence on individuals and on the community. Charlie leaves the cemetery to attend. Betty Lou leaves her home for the first time in nine years to attend—both out of loyalty and affection for Stargirl but also to experience the magic of the natural phenomenon. Archie and Stargirl’s father recognize that the point of celebrating the Solstice is not specifically to watch the sun rise, but rather to bring people together as cultures have across centuries. The Winter Solstice celebration connects the people in the present to their century-old ancestors who also celebrated the rebirth of the sun. The Solstice epitomizes Stargirl’s emotional journey over the last year, as it signifies saying goodbye to winter, or the past, and looking forward to longer days in the future.

In Stargirl, many of Stargirl’s altruistic, self-sacrificing characteristics qualify her as a kind of Christ figure. Here, the Solstice celebration also suggests a parallel to Christ’s sermon on the Mount. Like Christ teaching his disciples righteousness, compassion, and justice, Stargirl brings the townspeople together in communion. The people’s silence is described as “a reverence” and their reaction one of joy and awe. Stargirl also alludes to the Biblical “miracle of the fishes” (267), in which Christ fed his followers from five loaves and two fish when Stargirl describes how the supply of sunburst pins never ran out. With their massive turnout, the townspeople express their accord with Stargirl’s values of kindness and connection. The attendees feel a kinship that lingers after the experience: They continue to wear their sunbursts around town, showing how the experience impacted them and set them apart. Stargirl notices that daily life seems special, that “the commonest gestures [are] flecked with glitter, as if a sparkle from the golden beam clung to every person who went down from Calendar Hill that morning” (274). Stargirl orchestrates life changes.

Post-Solstice, characters reveal how Stargirl’s influence has altered them. Although Charlie and Arnold remain locked in their own times, seeing the past, in Charlie’s case, or seeing another layer to the world, in Arnold’s, they emerge partially from their isolation. Charlie relives his past with Grace by sharing stories with Stargirl, whose empathetic listening draws him into the present. Arnold still exists in his own world, but Arnold now has a companion in Tom, another living spirit who ties Arnold to the present. Neither is as lonely as before they met Stargirl. Alvina shows increasing maturity: counting coup with her blonde-haired tormenter rather than returning to her angry and violent attacks. Betty Lou gains the strength and confidence to leave her house on her own. Perry undergoes a transformation in Stargirl’s thoughts from charismatic, sexy, delinquent to devoted son, brother, and friend. Leo, too, with his “YES,” shows he has matured. Stargirl’s kindnesses to others are repaid in kind: She now has a collection of fiercely devoted sisters in Dootsie, Alvina, and Betty Lou, friends of all ages to offer support and acceptance; and somewhere in the future, Leo and Stargirl’s lives will intertwine again.

In the Epilogue to Stargirl, 15 years after the events in the book, Leo is hopeful that he and Stargirl will soon be together when he receives a porcupine necktie for his birthday—a sign that Stargirl is watching his life from afar.