The day Stargirl Caraway walked into Mica Area High, a hush fell over the school. People stared wide-eyed and openmouthed as she made her way past. The corridors echoed with the sound of her name. Up to that point, no one in this hotbed of conformity had ever seen anything like her. She dressed in kimonos and pioneer clothing, played the ukulele, carried her pet rat Cinnamon around in a sunflower-emblazoned satchel, and had the wide-eyed gaze of an innocent. She danced when there was no music, laughed when there was no joke, and serenaded her fellow students on their birthdays.  

And though the student body was a bit put off by her eccentricities, they slowly began to accept her and look forward to her antics. By the end of the football season, her growing popularity reached a fevered pitch. She won an oratorical contest with a speech entitled: "Elf Owl, Call Me By My First Name," and was even asked to be a member of the cheerleading squad.  

But what goes up must come down, and by the middle of basketball season, her popularity had begun to fizzle. One by one, the very same students that had looked forward to seeing her began to shun her. Only two remained loyal: Dorie Dilson, her lunchtime pal, and Leo Borlock, who was secretly in love with her. Drawn by her friendliness and penchant for good will, Leo begins his relationship with Stargirl just as everyone else is turning their backs on her. Before long, they have also turned their backs on him, and he can't take it. Although he knows Stargirl possesses something extraordinary, he makes a fateful request, and eventually, he too turns his back on her.  

A perceptive study of the pitfalls of popularity and conformity, Newbery winner Jerry Spinelli turns conventional behavior on its ear, begging the question: would you turn your back on yourself in the name of approval and popularity?