14 year old Stargirl is fresh and original. Entering Mica High School in tenth grade after being home-schooled all her life, she soon has everyone mesmerised, especially Leo. She leaves cards and messages to other students, sings 'Happy Birthday' to them in the school canteen and generally brings the school morale up. Leo starts to see life differently, but struggles with some of Stargirl's oddities. Many of the students don't appreciate her individuality either and soon Stargirl feels the pressure to become like everyone else and Leo learns a few valuable lessons along the way. A brilliant novel that will certainly generate plenty of discussion about individuality vs conformity.

• bullyingYA