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One of fans' favorite takeaways from the book was Stargirl's Happy Wagon, a little toy wagon she would fill with pebbles to indicate and reflect on how she was feeling. Not only did she dress the rat up and bring it to all of her classes, but at her height of popularity, other students start buying rats and ukuleles to mimic her. In the book, though, her furry companion is a much bigger deal. Sure, in the movie, Stargirl's rat, Cinnamon, was seen once or twice. Stargirl's rat love was a bigger deal in the book. He didn't want to stand out, because when the book was written, standing out wasn't as coveted as it is in 2020. You know Leo is attracted to silliness and strangeness (hence his love of porcupine neckties and the feelings he has for Stargirl), but his yearning to be like everyone else wasn't originally from a place of fear. In the book, however, it was not as cut and dry. In the film, Leo's desire to blend in stemmed from being bullied as a child (and his porcupine necktie getting cut). Leo's desire to not stand out stemmed from a different place. In the movie, the original tie was from his deceased father, and the rest of the timeline was moved up a bit as well, as more than one tie was given to him anonymously from Stargirl. After being mentioned in the local newspaper for his unique collection, Leo received an anonymous porcupine necktie after his 14th birthday (which he later found out was from Stargirl). From there, he started collecting ties himself. In the book, the necktie was given to Leo by his Uncle Pete as a farewell present before he moved from Pennsylvania to Arizona. The backstory of the porcupine necktie is different. While these characters and the general story are similar, fans who read all about Leo and Stargirl in the early 2000s will be slightly shook over some of the changes made for the film.ġ. Leo Borlock (Graham Verchere), a 16-year-old boy going into his junior year of high school meets Stargirl Caraway (Grace VanderWaal, aka the ukulele girl from America’s Got Talent), a previously homeschooled sophomore who is, in a word, unique. Except in this case, the girl has a pet rat and plays a ukulele, and the high school drama is a little less Gossip Girl and a little more Glee. Cute boy falls for not-your-average girl and high school drama ebbs and flows with their relationship. The differences between the Stargirl book and the movie, however, have many fans feeling some type of way.īased on the novel released in 2000, Stargirl is the definition of the perfect "coming of age" love story. As someone who to this day has a tattered copy of the Jerry Spinelli novel on her bookshelf, I was eager to see one of my favorite stories come to life, and I know I'm not the only one. For fans who have loved Stargirl the book since they were young (hello, it's me), streaming the Disney+ film the moment it was released on March 13 was a must.
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