We are star stuff

Last Tuesday at 7am I sat down at gate 23 in Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport and began reading Jerry Spinelli's Stargirl for the first time. Three hours later I finished and wondered how the heck I hadn't heard about this book before.

Because my heart swelled when Leo asked Archie, "Was she really here? Who was she? Was she real?" and Archie responded,

"Real? Oh, yes. As real as we get. Don't ever doubt that. That's the good news." He pointed the pipe stem at me. "And well named. Stargirl. Though I think she had simpler things in mind. Star people are rare. You'll be lucky to meet another."
"Star people?" I said. "You're losing me here."
He chuckled. "That's okay. I lose myself. It's just my oddball way of accounting for someone I don't really understand any more than you do."
"So where do stars come in?"
He pointed the pipe stem. "The perfect question. In the beginning, that's where they come in. They supplied the ingredients that became us, the primordial elements. We are star stuff, yes?
"...And I think every once in a while someone comes along who is a little more primitive than the rest of us, a little closer to our beginnings, a little more in touch with the stuff we're made of."