No one at Mica Area High School has ever seen anyone quite like Stargirl before. The strange new student with the large canvas bag with a sunflower on it, who's forever strumming on her ukulele and breaking into song, comes across as a bit kooky, to say the least.

But Stargirl's strangeness attracts just about everyone's attention, including Leo's. He thinks that she'd be a great subject for Hot Seat, the in-school TV show produced by Leo and his friend Kevin. The show's format involves interviewing students. Up until now, none of them were particularly noteworthy or interesting. But the ever-so-eccentric Stargirl would be a different proposition entirely. Say what you like about her, but at least she's not boring.

On Stargirl's second day at school, she's wearing a standout ensemble consisting of a pair of bright-red baggy shorts with a bib and shoulder strap. If that weren't kooky enough, she has her sandy hair pulled back into “twin-plaited pigtails, each tied with a bright-red ribbon.” To top it off, she's applied a little dab of rouge to her cheeks, as well as some freckles. Leo thinks that this makes Stargirl look like two famous fictional characters: Heidi and Little Bo Peep.