The View from Here

Meet Lorraine of The View from Here .  Lorraine’s blog bio shares the following…”I am a Christian, a committed wife, loving mother to my 14 year old son, and my beautiful puppy, Lilly. I am at the most contented time of my life and want to share it to inspire others along the way.” Don’t you love that last statement? Lorraine is reviewing a book she recently read. I worked in an elementary school media center for a few years and my favorite part of the job was leading book clubs, especially with 5^th graders. This book sounds right up my alley.

First of all let me say I am thrilled to be invited by Beverly to guest post on ‘BEglorious’.  AND thank you for your sweet blog reading time.

When Beverly said yes I didn’t have to think long and hard about my subject. I have just finished the book ‘Stargirl’ by Jerry Spinelli. For a small fast read it really made an impact on me. It has 186 pages and is listed as young adult reading. I read that little book in about four hours or less and was totally drawn in by it.

The story is about a tenth Grader who is the new girl at Mica High. ‘She’s as magical as the desert sky. As strange as her pet rat. As mysterious as her own name.”  The story is told by Leo, an 11^th grader who finds her to be an enigma.

Stargirl does wild and crazy things but not in a popular way and she soon ostracizes everyone. Leo gets totally drawn in and ends up falling for her. When you see Stargirl through his eyes you begin to understand the mysterious world that she lives in. However, in an attempt to help her, ‘connect’ he points out how her behavior alienates everyone. The story takes a turn.

I won’t give too many spoilers as you won’t need to read the book. However, the reason why the book made such an impact on me is because it leaves you pondering the circumstances and wondering how you would act in similar circumstances. The book doesn’t give all the answers.

As a Scrapper/photographer this was a very inspiring book for me. When I sat in the background and watched Stargirl and Leo on a date I learned how to see the most mundane and seemingly uninteresting scenes in a new light.  I started to appreciate even the most normal everyday things.

Secondly, and probably on a much deeper level, I recognized what made her tick. It didn’t actually come to me until days later when I heard someone make a totally unrelated remark, ‘sometimes you have to encourage to be encouraged’ Wow! I had pondered over that strange little book for two days and it came to me so poignantly that it moved me. She drew her energy from what she did for others and it didn’t matter if they received it or reciprocated. It was enough that she did it.  Isn’t that what we aim to do as bloggers? To grasp every bit of goodness from life and throw it out there where others can participate in the blessing. I know I do. I hope it is ok to say this, I’ve blogged for over 2 years and post almost daily. I have only 17 members and barely get any comments but I’m undaunted.  It is enough that I get to throw out some goodness and it is an added blessing if it ministers to someone.

If you have time read it for yourself. It’s definitely worth the time. AND, be yourself, open your eyes and share some love. BE GLORIOUS! 

Please pop over to Lorraine’s blog,  The View from Here and leave her a comment. I am so happy to have found her and had the opportunity to have her guest post. Are you interested in guest posting here in 2013? Email me at neusebrats{at}aol{dot}com and share what type of topic you’d like to post about. February is the SpecialSister’s birthday. If you have had someone with special needs in your life, I’d love for you to share here.