Stargirl comes to life on stage in Malvern

Stargirl's tale is familiar to American teens, and not just because Jerry Spinelli's 2000 novel,

Stargirl

, rests on many, many kids' and libraries' bookshelves. Its themes stretch from the Salem witch trials to

Mean Girls

. In the story, upon which Y York's world-premiere script for People's Light and Theatre is loosely based, an oddball homeschooled student enrolls at an Arizona high school, challenges her peers' conformity with iconoclastic behavior - carrying a pet rat in a backpack, playing ukulele in the halls, dressing in costume - and is summarily shunned.

Stargirl is York's fifth collaboration with the company, her second with Spinelli after 2009's Eggs. The playwright typically uses her source material as a jumping-off point, but Stargirl Society members (they exist) shouldn't be alarmed. This is less a chapter-by-chapter retelling of the book than a distillation of its message. The love story between Stargirl (Saige Hassler) and Leo Borlock (Aubie Merrylees) remains, as do alpha couple Hillary (Margaret Ivey) - she's named Hillari in the book - and Wayne Parr (Mark St. Cyr), and the kids' paleontologist pal, the Professor (Tom Teti).

Its message is clear.

Stargirl, in a fruitless effort to blend in with her classmates, asks Leo, "What do you like?"

He answers, "I like what they like. You should like what they like, too."

It's a painful moment for anyone who's ever been just outside or trapped inside a thicket of social mores, which is to say, just about everyone.

It helps to see these sentiments delivered so earnestly by Hassler and Merrylees. Under director Samantha Bellomo's guidance, they burst with youthful exuberance as readily as they deflate from dashed hopes. They're sweet, funny, and winning, and despite a staccato start, they pop out of their surroundings like three-dimensional beings in a two-dimensional world.

Their supporting characters retain a cartoonish quality, archetypes albeit with a twist.

Not that Stargirl fans will mind. It's fun enough to see her brought to life, and this production is thoughtful enough to send kids back to school with some new ideas. Even grown-ups can agree every school could use a few of those.