's old name
is Susan Caraway.
Although "Susan" is the name her parents gave
her, Stargirl has changed what she is called many times. She first renamed herself "Pocket
Mouse", then "Mudpie", "Hullygully", then finally,
"Stargirl". Stargirl says that she changes her name when the old one "doesn't
fit anymore". She explains,
"I'm not my name.
My name is something I wear, like a shirt. It gets worn, I outgrow it, I change
it".
Stargirl reveals her original name while she is
being interviewed by a panel of her peers on the Hot Seat, a student-run
video show. Although in typical fashion, she does not seem to notice, the questioning from the
panel has a hostile tone. One of the students asks accusingly, "What was wrong with the
name your parents gave you?", and another demands, "So what do your parents think?
Are they sad you didn't keep Susan?" Stargirl's parents, however, are apparently
comfortable with her attempts to express her individuality in this respect, and she
replies,
"No. It was almost their idea. When I
started calling myself Pocket Mouse when I was little, they called me that, too. And we just
never went back" (Chapter 13).
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