Why do people enjoy fiction?

Recently, I asked myself, "Why do people enjoy reading so much?" Based on my observances, people enjoy books that have the following features:

1. It takes you away and focuses the reader on the characters problems, and away from your own problems
2. A book that has lots of good suspense
3. A resonance that leaves a lasting impression
4. A reader will find something in the book that reminds them of themselves.
5. The readers get to know characters that you feel you can identify with and talk to if they existed in real life.

Thus, I have tried to choose books that will interest readers and fit the standard model for books that young adults/teens will like. So I have included my first post ever(!) also.

My first review is...
Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli

Stargirl is a girl that is very different from the average high school student. Students are slow to warm up to her. She is nothing like what they had experienced before. They cannot place her in a certain group, stereotype, or clique, so they shun her are "weird." After she joins the cheer-leading team, she suddenly becomes popular. Leo, the protagonist, begins to think more and more about her. 

Stargirl's message to all her readers

But there is one problem: Stargirl cheers for EVERYONE as a cheerleader. Her school mates completely turn on her after she extends her kindness to the opposing team. Leo must decide who he cares about more: Stargirl, or everyone else/ his reputation. Later on, he begs Stargirl to be the only thing that would destroy her: Normal.

This book was appealing for me because it demonstrates the conflicts in popularity and the importance of being oneself.
Stargirl is the first book in the Stargirl trilogy. Have fun reading!

"She was illusive. She was today. She was tomorrow. She was the faintest scent of a cactus flower, the flitting shadow of an elf owl. We did not know what to make of her. In our minds we tried to pin her to a corkboard like a butterfly, but the pin went through and away she flew."

~ Leo