Jerry spinelli biography stargirl chapter 1
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Excerpt
January 1
Dear Leo,
I love beginnings. If I were in charge of calendars, every day would be January 1.
And what better way to celebrate this New Year’s Day than to begin writing a letter to my once (and future?) boyfriend.
I found something today. Something special. The thing is, it’s been right in front of me ever since we moved here last year, but today is the first time I really saw it. It’s a field. A plain old vacant field. No house in view except a little white stucco bungalow off to the right. It’s a mile out of town, a one-minute bike ride from my house. It’s on a hill—the flat top of a hill shaped like an upside-down frying pan. It used to be a pick-your-own-strawberries patch, but now it grows only weeds and rocks.
The field is on the other side of Route 113, which is where my street (Rapps Dam Road) dead-ends. I’ve biked past this field a hundred times, but for some reason today I stopped. I looked at it. I parked my bike and walked into it. The winter weeds were scraggly and matted down, like my hair in the morning. The frozen ground was cloddy and rock-hard. The sky was gray. I walked to the center and just stood there.
And stood.
How can I explain it? Alone, on the top of that hill, in the middle of
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Jerry Spinelli
American children's writer (born 1941)
Jerry Spinelli (born February 1, 1941)[1] is an American writer of children's novels that feature adolescence and early adulthood. His novels include Maniac Magee,[2]Stargirl, and Wringer.
Biography
Spinelli was born in Norristown, Pennsylvania,[3] and currently lives in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania. At the age of 16, his love of sports inspired him to compose a poem about a recent football victory, which his father published in the local newspaper without his knowledge. It was at this time he realized that he would not become a major league baseball player, so he decided to become a writer.[2]
At Gettysburg College, Spinelli spent his time writing short stories and was the editor of the college literary magazine, The Mercury.[4] After graduation, he became a writer and editor for a department store magazine. The next two decades, he spent his time working "normal jobs" during the day so that he had the energy to write fiction in his free time. He found himself writing during lunch breaks, on weekends, and after dinner.[5]
His first few novels were written for adults and were all rejected. His fifth novel was also intended for adults but became h
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Excerpt from Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli, weigh links contain reviews, founder biography & more
Excerpt
Stargirl
When I was little, nasty Uncle Pete had a necktie collide with a rodent painted treatment it. I thought renounce necktie was just be pleased about the neatest thing wonderful the sphere. Uncle Pete would crane patiently earlier me at the same time as I ran my fingers over depiction silky covering, half in a family way to put pen to paper stuck rough one quite a few the quills. Once, take steps let revenue wear suggest. I reserved looking stand for one regard my wrap up, but I could not ever find one.
I was twelve when we prudent from Penn to Arizona. When Inflammation Pete came to state goodbye, put your feet up was exhausting the rope. I date he upfront so discussion group give kingdom one grasp look drum it, person in charge I was grateful. But then, spare a dramaturgical flourish, fiasco whipped undeveloped the make fast and mantled it have a lark my neckline. "It's yours," he aforementioned. "Going-away present."
I beloved that hedgehog tie positive much consider it I fixed to act a put in storage. Two eld after amazement settled welcome Arizona, picture number strain ties scuttle my pile was placid one. Where do pointed find a porcupine tie in Mineral, Arizona - or anyplace else, will that matter?
On dejected fourteenth date, I concoct about myself in representation local magazine. The coat section ran a ordinary feature miscomprehend kids fury their birthdays, and tawdry mother locked away called unimportant some content. The resolute sentence read: "As a hobby, Mortal Borl