Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell

Pages: 325
Intended Audience: Mature Teens
Genre: Real life/Romance
Notes for Parents: Has mature scenes, coarse language, obscene phrases, bullying, domestic violence

The Inside Cover

Eleanor…Red hair, wrong clothes. Standing behind him until he turns his head. Lying beside him until he wakes up. Making everyone else seem drabber and flatter and never good enough…Eleanor.
Park…He knows she’ll love a song before he plays it for her. He laughs at her jokes before she ever gets to the punch line. There’s a place on his chest, just below his throat, that makes her want to keep promises…Park.
Set over the course of one school year, this is the story of two star-crossed sixteen-year-olds—smart enough to know that first love almost never lasts, but brave and desperate enough to try.

What the cover doesn’t tell you:

This is a New York Times bestseller.

What’s good?

It all started with an awkward seating arrangement on the school bus and first, grew into a reluctant friendship, then became a tender romance. I love how the romance unfolds slowly and quite deliberately (unlike so many of today’s “love at first sight” romances). The short chapters make it easy to read, while the cacophony of crude characters that surrounded the misfit couple make their relationship feel very intimate, pushing the story forward with an even flow. The writing is clever and filled with emotion, and the pop culture references capture teenage life in the 80s nicely.
Best Part: Park’s parents.

What isn’t good?

Eleanor’s negativity gets irritating and she obsesses about the silliest things, but ultimately most of it is understandable considering her ongoing situation. Also, I wonder if today’s teens will understand all the 80s references.
Worst part: I don’t understand why Eleanor did what she did in the end. It was not a satisfying resolution for me.

Recommendation þþþoo

Occasionally it gets a little “sickly sweet,” but it would have easily earned four checkmarks from me if the end had made any sense. Still, this was a heartwarming and heartbreaking tale that left an impression. Definitely recommended.

Rowell, Rainbow. Eleanor & Park. New York: St. Martin’s Griffin, 2013. (Hardcover)