Eleanor & Park

by Rainbow Rowell

Hardcover, 2013

Call number

JF ROW

Publication

St. Martin's Griffin (2013), 336 pages

Description

Set over the course of one school year in 1986, this is the story of two star-crossed misfits--smart enough to know that first love almost never lasts, but brave and desperate enough to try.

Media reviews

I have never seen anything quite like “Eleanor & Park.” Rainbow Rowell’s first novel for young adults is a beautiful, haunting love story — but I have seen those. It’s set in 1986, and God knows I’ve seen that. There’s bullying, sibling rivalry, salvation through music and comics, a
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monstrous stepparent — and I know, we’ve seen all this stuff. But you’ve never seen “Eleanor & Park.” Its observational precision and richness make for very special reading.
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User reviews

LibraryThing member jnwelch
Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell is a beautifully told story of 16 year old high school outsiders in the '80s who fall in love while riding the school bus. This young adult novel features very strong but realistic language, and cringe-worthy behavior by bullying high schoolers and a monstrous
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stepparent. Park is the short, half-Korean son of a war vet and his Korean wife. They are the best-depicted parents I've come across in a YA novel: affectionate, in love, imperfect, trying to do the right thing. Eleanor is a big-boned, red-haired girl who others call Big Red and who compares herself to a bar maid. Her family, relocated in a small house after her mother re-marries, is cripplingly poor. She shares her room with several siblings, and tries to make herself invisible at home to evade the wrath of her alcoholic step-dad. She's intelligent but put-upon at school, in part because she dresses so oddly. Park is accepted, but barely, and lives in his own world of comics and 80s music. After a shaky start on the bus, Eleanor begins to read Park's comics over his shoulder, and he's smitten. Soon they're sharing music as well. She corrects him when he tells her she looks "nice". "Eleanor was right: She never looked nice. She looked like art, and art wasn't supposed to look nice; it was supposed to make you feel something. . . . Eleanor made him feel like something was happening, even when they were just sitting on the couch."

As they start to get to know each other, they're honest and funny, e.g., after he gives her the Watchmen graphic novel and she finds parts boring, he says, "I'm beginning to think you shouldn't have started reading comics with a book that completely deconstructs the last fifty years of the genre." She responds, "All I'm hearing is blah, blah, blah, genre." Nonetheless, reluctantly, she's just as smitten as he is. "When she saw Park standing at the bus stop on Monday morning, she started giggling. Seriously, giggling like a cartoon character . . . when their cheeks get all red and little hearts start popping out of their ears . . . it was ridiculous."

They love to touch each other, and there are beautiful passages about simple hand-holding and face-caressing, along with more extensive canoodling. Park's mother is resistant to Eleanor at first because of her odd ways and shaky family, but both she and her husband start realizing what Park loves about Eleanor and what a difficult situation she is overcoming. The cards seem everywhere stacked against their romance, and one final, horrifying family revelation may doom it, despite their best intentions. You'll likely find yourself re-visiting your own days of young love. I can see why this one has gotten so many raves. It's a standout and the best of the past year for me.
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LibraryThing member Whisper1
I'm struggling how to write this review. Highly recommended by Joe and Mark, I trust their judgment and felt drawn to read this story. Like others stellar young adult books I've recently read, this one was also chosen as a possible Newbery award recipient.

It's a shame that Rainbow Rowell did not
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receive the well deserved accolades. My thoughts regarding this incredibly talented author -- usually the first book written is somewhat autobiographical. Because Eleanor & Park deals with some very sad, heart breaking situations, and the depth of which these poignant things are written, leads me to believe she may have experienced very hard knocks in her life. If so, all the more reason, I am in awe of this strong woman!

The book is exquisitely written from the perspective of Eleanor and that of Park. Two star crossed misfit 16 year olds who, like many teenagers, struggle to find their niche. Eleanor, the stronger of the two is very clear in her perceptions of others. She knows her mother placed her and her siblings in a dangerous situation, poverty filled, abusive, and one slippery step away from sexual abuse by her near do well drunken step father.

Park and Eleanor meet on the school bus. His initial opinion is one of distaste for the heavy set, bright red--haired girl who wears mismatched unfeminine clothing. Reluctantly he allows her to sit next to him, which then sets in motion a path toward acceptance, love and trust.

While Park's father struggles to understand him, there is love and security for Park. While initially non accepting of Eleanor, his mother shines through.

All the characters are well developed. This is a difficult book to read, and yet, somehow the author does not leave the reader in angst.

As I rooted for Eleanor to find a safe place to land, I could not in any way feel sympathy for her mother who chose her alcoholic mate over the welfare of her children.

Highly recommended. Five Stars.
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LibraryThing member GirlsonFire
Best book of 2013; and might even usurp "Looking for Alaska" or "The Fault in Our Stars" for my favorite realistic romance! I love it even more because while it is solidly set in the 1980's, it isn't overwhelming. If you are a huge alt rock fan, this book is for you; I loved when Park talked about
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mixed tapes and The Cure, and about fell out of my chair when Rainbow described his Black Flag and U2 tees! A tender coming of age that is beyond realistic, authentic, and pure.
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LibraryThing member Smiler69
When new girl Eleanor shows up on the school bus one day, things start out very badly for her when nobody wants to make room for her to sit, even though there are still plenty of empty seats left. She's very overweight, has long wild curly, very red hair and is dressed really strangely, and though
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this is 1986 and new wave music and punk rock rule for some of the kids, her kind of weirdness just doesn't fly. Park happens to be a misfit of sorts too, being the only half-Korean in an otherwise all-white or black Omaha, Nebraska, though he's managed to fly under the radar with strategic friendships and alliances, and he's not sure he's willing to compromise that for the new girl, but he can't help himself from wanting to help Eleanor when he bluntly tells her to just sit next to him on that first day, and there she'll sit henceforth on their daily trips to school and back. He doesn't find Eleanor attractive exactly, but for some reason, he starts sharing his beloved comic books with her, like the [Watchmen] series, and then introducing her to some of his favourite music like The Smiths and The Cure and Alphaville and Elvis Costello (the list goes on and on as the book progresses).

Eleanor has never heard any of this music, so he makes her mixed tapes, but in her typical blunt way she refuses to take the first one, till he finally figures out that she has no way of listening to it. She's just as rude to him when he offers to to loan her his walkman till his kindness and insistence wear her down. They've soon got a friendship going, based on all the things Park likes, which prove to be a salvation for Eleanor. Her home life is a living hell. Her mother's taken up with a violent alcoholic called Richie who doesn't hesitate to hit on his wife on a whim and threaten Eleanor and her four younger siblings with unnamed injuries. They're so poor they don't have a phone in the house, in which the bathroom and the kitchen aren't even separated by a door. To add to her misery, Eleanor is being bullied at school, persecuted by one of the most popular girls, and then regularly finds disgusting pornographic inscriptions on her school manuals which she has no idea who could be putting there.

As friendship progresses to declared love with Park and he invites her into his home, Eleanor knows the respite she finds there with his parents, who slowly come to accept her despite her strange appearance and awkward ways can only be temporary, because her parents, and especially Richie, are bound to find out about this relationship, which over the months she's been passing off as time spent with a fictitious girlfriend, and she knows without a doubt there'll be a price to paywhen Richie finds out. Only things keep getting better and better with Parker, who fills her life with music and makes her feel things she never knew she had the capacity to feel before.

Many people here on LT raved about this book and I remained skeptical about whether I'd like it too, but it ended up being a big winner for me. I happen to be the same age as our two main protagonists, so was just as influenced by most of the music which is mentioned in the book (The Smiths is one of my all-time favourites!), and though thankfully I never had the kind of nightmarish home life Eleanor has, I could definitely identify with her feeling like the odd girl out and the bullied misfit at school. Rainbow Rowell writes sensitively and realistically about what it feels like to be a teenager and to experience love and complete bewilderment and fear, all this in a way that also makes for compelling reading. I'd rate this book as a 4.5, only according to my rating system, that systematically means I want to reread the book, and in this case, once will be an experience I will remember and don't necessarily feel a need to repeat.
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LibraryThing member rmboland
This book consumed me. I lived in every word, and felt every feeling. I was just about to write about how this book made me remember those beginning feelings of love, when I realized that the author claims that it would..right in the description.

Rainbow Rowell, you poet you. From the very first few
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lines of the very first page, I knew I was done for. I was hit with an unrelenting rush of feeling, of longing-in the least corny way possible. Everything in this book felt real to me. Can I just tell you..how INCREDIBLY refreshing it was to read about a legit, REALISTIC, teen romance? No paranormal mumbo involved. Just straight, uncomplicated (okay, maybe a little complicated), good ol' 80's, hormone enraged, teenage LOVE. I wanted to HUG it. I wanted to HUG THIS BOOK.

Park: A half Asian, half white, male teen existing in a world populated by mostly whites. He stuck out like a sore thumb, which was important for the story, but he also stuck out in my mind as well. I long for content in books that describe the ethic and cultural background of their characters-I want to be able to envision these characters down to their every DETAIL. That was handed to me in this book, it was handed to me and I DEVOURED it. I loved that Park was Asian; I loved that we were reminded of that very fact on every few pages.

[Note: Just so there isn't any confusion, I still love me my paranormal romances sprinkled here and there-I just needed a break.]

Eleanor: My brain found it harder to wrap itself around her. I hated myself for it, but I kept wanting her to not look the way she did. I wanted her to be something she wasn't. And then I mentally SLAPPED myself and realized that she was exactly how I wanted her to look. She was a bigger, freckled, red-headed beauty, and I learned to love everything about her at almost exactly the same pace Park did.

Park & Eleanor together: When what happened between them finally happened, I think time stood completely still for me. I was sitting right between them, I was. Miss Rowell completely entrapped me with her descriptions of longing, I ..couldn't..breathe. I especially loved that the storyline was broken into Park's view, and then Eleanor's. It made their interactions THAT much better.

The back stories and side stories in this book were also incredible, and SO well written. It wasn't just a love story. It wasn't. It was a story of pain, and overcoming, and acceptance, and simply getting by with what you have. It touched on so many sensitive topics, and they all worked together SO..SO well. I didn't want it to end, but I appreciate and respect where and HOW it did end. It was unsatisfying while being completely satisfying. Makes sense right?

If you're a sucker for love, read this book.
If you're not a sucker for love, DEFINITELY read this book.
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LibraryThing member pwlifter300
Is a 5-star rating for this book too much? I don't have the heart to give it any less since I can connect myself to the story.

First of all, I was Eleanor... the Asian version of Eleanor.
I've met the Persian version of Park. He was not my boyfriend, as much as Park was not Eleanor's.

I don't know why
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they don't make this kind of book more often. Thank you so much Ms. Rowell for penning this - you're a geek at heart! And to put this among all those YA books is just a disgrace, IMHO. The setting is 1986, when Eleanor and Park were 16. In 2013, that meant they would be in their mid-40s. See, they're actually in my age bracket!

Eleanor and Park met in a school bus. They shared the same seat. The romance started from there. It's sweet and refreshing to see two people from different races and backgrounds connected through comics and mixtapes. If you aren't GenX, you'd probably lift one of your eyebrows when you see the word 'mixtape' - but I guess it's retro enough now to admit you're a fan of U2, back when Bono was just one of the cool guys, not the humanitarian one.

Park Sheridan comes from a happy and well-adjusted family. His parents are still in love after all these years, heck, even his Korean mom still comes over to his grandparents next door for dinner. In contrast, Eleanor was kicked out of her mom's house by her stepdad. She finally moved to Park's high school after her mom asked her to come back live with her and her stepdad at his house.

Much of the story involves how the two got to know each other. How they started talking was hilarious. It's good that the author made the two of them a bit more introverted compared to their peers. Park was not exactly an outcast. He can kick ass b/c of his taekwondo training, and he dated the school's queen bee back when they were in elementary school. It gives him enough street cred for the jocks to leave him alone. However, Eleanor's appearance begs to differ - it was like she had it coming. Not until halfway thru did I learn that is because her mom never had enough money to buy a decent outfit for Eleanor.

This is not only a romantic story. It's actually a coming-of-age story set for any GenX readers. I wonder if the iPhone generation would experience something like described in the book - with personal gadgets and social media everywhere, it's like this generation is groomed to be distant but narcissistic. Not that I don't enjoy social media.. I still need my Facebook!

One scene I particularly love is when Park finally decided to stand up for Eleanor. It's very charming, to have the one you love finally proclaim to the world that you're his girlfriend :)

I would definitely set out for more of Ms. Rowell's books - but I don't think any would compare to this, er.. masterpiece. I don't want to sound bombastic, really. See, I know what Eleanor would say!
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LibraryThing member philgg
Fantastic book about being a misfit and falling in love. Super high recommendation.
LibraryThing member Whitneyhhh
Rainbow Rowell tells the story of two unique teenagers who unexpectedly fall in love. While the tale sounds cliché, Rowell reminds the readers what it feels like to be a teenager, which makes the novel something any teenager can relate to. Told through the perspectives of both Park and Eleanor, we
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learn about two teenagers who come from very different backgrounds, but bond over a love of music and comics in an accidental yet special relationship. The character development is superbly attained through the switching points of view, creating a very unique writing style. In addition to the beautiful way the story is told, Rowell gives the reader a very realistic narrative, putting the reader right in the shoes of the characters. The story seems slow-paced, as if you are experiencing the action in real time, but before you know it you have flown through the book. In the way that readers emotionally invested themselves in Edward & Bella (Twilight) and Augustus & Hazel (The Fault in Our Stars), you will find yourself laughing and crying with, and ultimately loving with, Eleanor & Park. The book is great for high school readers, both high and low. The story is a very easy but captivating read. Rowell’s use of setting and character development as well as point of view make the novel a superb choice for the classroom and a must have for every high school library.
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LibraryThing member voracious
"Eleanor and Park" is a heartbreaking and sweet novel about a misfit girl from a dysfunctional family and her budding relationship with a Korean boy who befriends her on the bus during the 1980's. Eleanor had recently returned to live with her mother, young siblings and her mom's abusive drunk
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boyfriend. On the first day at her new school, she was forced to sit by Park on the school bus, as there were no empty seats and nobody wanted to sit with her. Park thought Eleanor was wierd and, like everyone else, didn't want to have anything to do with her at first. However, as they continued to share a bus seat, then comics, then recorded music on cassette tapes, their friendship grew. Bullied at school and at home, Eleanor struggled to fit in anywhere. Spending time with Park was the only positive thing in her life. As Park's family began to know her and care for her too, Eleanor starts to see that she is missing more than she knew and deserves more than she has had. Although the author forshadowed the sad ending on the first page, I still hoped it would turn out differently. As with "The Fault in Our Stars" by John Green, this teen novel of new love and hope doesn't end the way you want it to but you are still glad you read it because the journey is so worthwhile.
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LibraryThing member Jessika.C
I liked it a lot. To be honest I didn’t think I would because I’m so not interested in puppy love stories like what the sleeve led me to believe. The summary is such a huge understatement in the power of the story. It left me speechless every time one of my coworkers asked me what it was about.
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I couldn’t even recite what the official summary was because the story I read wasn’t any where near that bland.

Eleanor & Park follows these two high school kids as they learn about love, that’s about as far as the accuracy of the summary goes. Eleanor is a cute chubby red headed girl who appears to like to wear men’s clothing. She has a hectic life, living with her mom and her abusive stepfather who bullies her brothers and sister into hating her and her only escape comes from a cute kid named Park Sheridan. Park is a Korean-American kid with parents that met way back in Korea and fell in love there. He looks nothing like his all american vet dad and only receives his praise for continuing with tai kwon do and eventually using it on some d-bag bully sometime in the novel (hope that’s not too spoilery). His mom owns a beauty salon in his house and loves the fact that her son is the way he is. To sum it all up, Park’s parents are the perfect example of what a couple should be like.

Eleanor and Park are somewhere in between that. Through their mutual love of music and comic books they find a bond with each other that extends even more than the typical puppy love fest that I don’t even like half the time. They have their ups and downs but in the end they have their own crazy messed up way of staying together and keeping that bond strong.

To be honest I hated Eleanor which is funny because everything I hated about her was something that Park ended up saying he loved and I loved Park for the exact reasons that Eleanor loved him. I guess the problem was that I didn’t understand her character until the very end……*must….refrain from talking….about….the ending….or I might dock….another star…*

This was a narrative story that left me satisfied until the end.
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LibraryThing member laytonwoman3rd
Park comes from a loving family; his mother and father met during Dad's military service in Korea, and they are still demonstrably right for each other. Dad is a bit too concerned over whether Park is manly enough, but he's not always a jerk about it. Eleanor, on the other hand, has a truly
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desperate family situation. She and her 4 siblings all sleep in the same tiny room, where she also retreats as much as possible to stay out of the way of their abusive stepfather, Richie. There is no money for decent clothes; the bathroom has no door and her mother has no spine. Eleanor has spent the last year living with a friend of her mother's because her stepfather threw her out. We get the impression that things weren't always this bad, but details of life before Richie began to rule the roost are not forthcoming. Park has some friends to hang out with when he's so inclined. Eleanor is a total misfit and a target for the mean girls. She doesn't like her appearance, but is not at all inclined to try any "beauty tricks" and actually seems to cultivate oddity. Like all teenagers, neither can even process the possibility of taking their troubles to a responsible adult. The first love bits are so sweet and terrifying my stomach hurt while reading them. My only quibble is that these kids are 16---that seems a little late to be going through what they're going through. Rowell doesn't really give us enough back story, especially for Eleanor, to explain that. Even if you weren't the odd one out in high school, even if it's been 50-some years since those days were now for you, something about this wonderfully weird love story is bound to take you back there.
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LibraryThing member andreablythe
I bought Eleanor & Park in support of the author due to a censorship controversy that happened, in which parents in Minnesota convinced a local school district, county board, and local library board to cancel Rainbow Rowell's reading and speaking events, because they believe the book to be obscene.
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I am ridiculously glad I bought this book, because it turned out to be one of my favorite books this year. It's an incredibly funny and sweet love story between two outcast teenagers. The rub for these parents, I suppose, is that Rowell approached the story with honesty, the teenagers are intimate (but not overtly so) and cuss as a direct result of the abuse and bullying they witness. Rowell is an author who doesn't pull punches, but she does so skillfully to reveal truth and offer hope in bleak circumstances.

Park is something of an outcast. He's not tormented by the other kids because of being "grandfathered" into the community as one of the locals, but he still doesn't quite fit in. He doesn't meet his dad's standards of being manly or his school's standards of being cool, so he kind of floats in an in between place of not being friendless while also being rather lonely.

Eleanor moves back in with her mom, brothers, sister, and abusive stepdad after having been kicked out of the house for a year. The loneliness of having been excluded of her family life has left its mark on her and she feels like an outsider in her own home. Desperate to not be abandoned again, she does her best fit within her step father's rules, while also avoiding him. At school, her sense of exclusion is continued with bullying from the popular kids, who continually call her names and harass her.

Eleanor and Park meet as she climbs the bus for the first time on the way to school. The bus has its own rules and hierarchies, into which Eleanor does not fit and it leaves her standing in the aisle as the bus jolts into motion. Park's first intention to is to leave her hanging like the rest, but he scoots aside and lets Eleanor sit with him. What starts out as indifference grows into friendship as the two begin sharing and exchanging music and comics, then as their friendship blooms into trust it becomes love.

I loved Rowell's writing style, which was clean and occasionally poetic. ("His eyes were so green, they could turn carbon dioxide into oxygen.") And I love how she structured the story, with it being told from both Eleanor and Park's point of views. This allowed for one part of the conflict to exist in misunderstandings in the way we perceive ourselves and how we think people perceive us. Neither Park nor Eleanor are mind readers and so often presume the negative (he must hate me, she must be embarrassed by my, he must think I'm fat), when the reality is that the thing one is most embarrassed by is one of the things the other loves most.

The way the relationship grows and changes and becomes slowly more intimate throughout the novel is touching and funny and sad. It's really a great read and one I would recommend to anyone who likes romance, even if it's the YA variety.
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LibraryThing member lvmygrdn
I listened to the audio. The narrators (2) did a great job. This is a YA book. It brought up so many feelings from my childhood. The ending left me wanting more. I'm still thinking about the characters.
LibraryThing member rjmoir
A bus seat puts misfits Eleanor and Park in the same orbit, but a comic book brings them together. Neither half-korean, insular Park nor big, ostentatious-by-necessity Eleanor thinks much of their seat-partner - he thinks she looks like something that wouldn't survive in the wild, and she's far too
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distracted by her disastrous home life to give him any real attention at all, even IF the only thing he's ever said to her involved angry swearing. But when Park realizes she's surreptitiously reading the comics plopped open in his lap, he starts giving her stacks of them to smuggle home under the eye of her drunken, abusive step-father. A friendship born of X-men, The Smiths, and batteries slowly becomes a romance so deeply real that their lives can't help but change. An expertly crafted romance set in 1986, Rainbow Rowell's sophomore novel depicts the desperation of first love, the pain of being trapped in one's own life, and familial tension without becoming melodramatic or self-pitying. While Park's race and Eleanor's size both receive focus, neither is treated in such a way that the characters are reduced to that one characteristic. Nor do the characters come across as too saintly - each character has faults that make them more, not less, relatable. Rowell also takes full advantage of her not-too-distant-past setting to interweave several pop culture references into the narrative naturally, secure in the knowledge that some 26 years later, those particular references still remain relevant. An emotional tale that ultimately leaves it to the reader to decide whether young love will thrive or die, "Eleanor & Park" might not empower its protagonists to change the world they live in, but every page feels undeniably real.
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LibraryThing member RaeLynn_Fry
Eleanor & Park
By: Rainbow Roswell
Genre: YA Contemproary
Content Rating: PG-13 for some language and some sexuality (warning: best first kiss scene in a YA EVER!)
Rating: 5/5
Cover: Love how it captures everything in the book
Instalove Factor: Nope, they worked hard for their love
Favorite Line: “Park
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turned toward the Plexiglas window and waited for a world of suck to hit the fan.” (pg 16, ebook)

Disclaimer I received a free copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for this honest review.
Publisher’s Summary "Bono met his wife in high school," Park says.
"So did Jerry Lee Lewis," Eleanor answers.
"I’m not kidding," he says.
"You should be," she says, "we’re sixteen."
"What about Romeo and Juliet?"
"Shallow, confused, then dead."
''I love you," Park says.
"Wherefore art thou," Eleanor answers.
"I’m not kidding," he says.
"You should be."

Set over the course of one school year in 1986, ELEANOR AND PARK is the story of two star-crossed misfits – smart enough to know that first love almost never lasts, but brave and desperate enough to try. When Eleanor meets Park, you’ll remember your own first love – and just how hard it pulled you under.
My Take I get so wrapped up in reading genre fiction in YA (paranormal, fantasy, dystopian, etc) that I forget how much I love contemporary YA fiction. It has a way of touching you as a reader and making you experience things in a realistic and emotional way that genre fiction could never do. While at times it can be a bit sad or depressing, it’s also refreshing and beautiful.
I just finished reading Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell and this book is one of those refreshingly beautiful contemporary romances. Set in 1986, the book is told from alternating points of view written in the 3rd person, between (you guessed it) Eleanor and Park.
It opens with Eleanor starting a new school and walking on to the bus for the first time and seeing Park then flips to Park’s first impression of Eleanor. Let’s just say it’s anything but love at first sight. Life for Eleanor is hard. We aren’t given many details about her past, but we do know that she was kicked out by her stepdad for a year and is just now coming back home. She has four siblings and all of them share the same room. Her stepdad is an abusive drunk (although Rowell never goes into details about specific events) and she’s being bullied at school. But she is strong and tries to ignore everything.
Park is from a pretty functional family, although his dad wishes he were more….well, just more. Park is ridden hard by his tae-kwon-do teaching father and compared to his younger brother too much. He has friends at school, but he’s pretty quiet. And then he falls in love with the wrong girl.
This seemed like a long book when in reality it really wasn’t. I think that illusion was created by the fact that so much happens on every page; no space is wasted in telling the story and developing the characters.
I loved the snarky comments that constantly came from Eleanor and the fact that she was afraid to let Park get so close, constantly second-guessing that he could actually love her. Park had the patience of a saint in dealing with her insecurities, but he was also human, getting frustrated and making mistakes. They both do, and I think that’s one of the aspects that makes this book so real.
My Recommendation Definitely worth the read. Loved this book so much.
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LibraryThing member msjessie
Eleanor and Park really is quite a cute story at times, though it isn't afraid to try and tackle heavier topics during its exploration of first and real love. However, despite its and the authors best attempts, the romance is the focal point of this short-ish novel about two misfits in the 80s. A
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book seemingly made for easy reading on a lazy day, Rainbow Rowell's second novel is quiet, charming, if sometimes a bit too sweet, but still a novel that is worth reading. It's cute, occasionally both funny and saccharine. Eleanor and Park is filled to the brim with: 80's nostalgia, sad circumstances, fluff. All in all, I found this to be a fast, realistic read.

Eleanor and Park are two misfits who find each other in an unlikely, though pretty creative way. I have to admit Rowell's use of the meet-cute was new and fresh how she used it here. These two main characters bond over a love of comic books and good music from their time, and it feels normal and authentic. They grow closer and closer fairly quickly, and their attraction is solidly built on more than just pheromones and looks. I did hope that the plot would have more direction than just a love story, and while I didn't get that, I did get a believable love story between two likeable characters.

I did like this, I had fun reading it and spending time in each narrator's head, but Eleanor and Park wasn't all it could have been. Like I said earlier, there are some heavy topics and issues at play for such a romance-centric novel. Not all of it really works, sadly. And some subplots feel short-changed and heavy-handed when all is said and done. The problems between each character and their respective parents - Park with his Dad, Eleanor with her mom and her stepdad - really never feel fully realized or resolved by the end of the book. They add complications and complexity to the lives of the two teenagers, but are never really explored for a deeper impact. It's all too neatly fixed or ignored by the end of the book, and I was disappointed with the quick fix.

Though not a perfect novel, Eleanor and Park is a quick and mostly enjoyable read. It's not as deep or meaningful as it could have been, but what is good about it - Eleanor, Park, their relationship - is good enough to carry the dead weight. Frustrating at times though it may be, this is a good example of teenage romance done well and right - I would read more novels from Rowell, and hope that her execution continues to grow and allow her to explore her deeper plots without shortchanging the fun. If you liked her first, or if you're looking for a sweet love story, this is the one to pick up. Also: that cover is absolutely lovely and fitting. Well done, there.
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LibraryThing member stephxsu
ELEANOR & PARK is not the witty and light-hearted read that I had expected it to be. Instead, it has trouble deciding whether it wants to be a charming romance or darker exploration into messed-up families. Either one would’ve worked for me, but straddling the two made for what was ultimately an
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unsatisfying read for me.

Don’t get me wrong: I enjoyed watching Park and Eleanor’s interactions unfold. They’re an unexpected couple, and it was fun to watch them slowly begin to open up to one another. However, I wasn’t convinced that Park and Eleanor’s relationship endured realistically in their world. I ended up being more interested in Park and Eleanor’s relationships with their families than their relationship with one another, and felt that one world seemed to always be intruding on the other, in terms of my understanding of each. After a while, I began to be more interested in reading about their interactions with their families, with the result that I felt confused about what the book wanted us to focus our attentions and interests on: the romance that initially sold the book, or the deeper but never thoroughly explored familial relationships that intrigued me more.

ELEANOR & PARK was, for me, a temporarily touching but ultimately forgettable love story where the heavy-handed emphasis on romance crushed the subjectively more interesting aspects of the characters’ lives, namely their relationships with their families.
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LibraryThing member shelleyraec
I really enjoyed Rainbow Rowell's debut novel, Attachments last year so I eagerly requested Eleanor and Park for review, particularly given the promise of mid 80's pop culture references. (I'm an 80's tragic). A contemporary young adult novel, Eleanor and Park introduces two sixteen year old's
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whose mutual antipathy evolves into passionate relationship, after being forced to share a seat on the school bus.

While Park, who is half Korean in the almost all white Omaha community he has grown up in, has avoided becoming a target of high school bullies, thanks in part to his friendship with his popular neighbours Steve and Tina, he has always been conscience that his looks set him apart from his peers. When new girl Eleanor, with wild red hair, a thrift store wardrobe and a solid figure steps on the bus, Park recognises her vulnerabilities immediately but defending her is out of the question, though he begrudgingly makes one small concession, offering to share his seat.

Eleanor would rather be anywhere else than on a school bus in Omaha but she has no choice. After an argument with her abusive step father, Eleanor's mother asked family friends to take Eleanor in for a few days to give him a chance to cool down but it was a year before he let her return, and Eleanor doesn't want to give him another excuse to separate her from her mother and three younger siblings. Crowded in a ramshackle two bedroom house, the family lives on a shoestring while her step father drinks their money away. Eleanor's clothes come from thrift stores, basics like shampoo and a toothbrush are considered a luxury she doesn't deserve and she knows that she will be a target at school. All she can do is ignore the cruel taunts of 'Big Red' and keep to herself.

The perspective alternates between that of Eleanor and Park so we have insight into what both are thinking and feeling not only about each other but also regarding their separate experiences. I fell in love with both characters, Park is a sweetheart and I was very sympathetic to Eleanor.

I loved how Rowell developed the blossoming relationship between Eleanor and Park, beginning with Park realising Eleanor is reading his comic books over his shoulder. A tentative friendship forms with casual concessions, all without speaking, until Park makes an overture that surprises even him. Their romance, when it happens, has that teenage intensity familiar to most of us where every touch is thrilling and every glance loaded with meaning.

Eleanor and Park was much darker and more complicated than I expected. Eleanor's life is difficult and the underlying threat from her stepfather is always present. Park's home may be happy but has some issues with his father in particular. There is not the happy ending you may expect here either, though it fits the novel and is far more realistic than I usually expect from the YA genre.

Eleanor and Park is a charming, poignant story of first love. Beautifully written, this is a must read for fans of contemporary YA and anyone who still has a mix tape buried in their closet,

*For those too young to know: mix tapes = playlists except on cassette :) I still have a few I was given, but have nothing to play them on anymore.
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LibraryThing member slavenrm
As usual I received this book from GoodReads as part of a giveaway. Also as usual, despite the very kind and generous consideration of getting a free book, I give my candid opinions below.

The year is 1986. Eleanor, a teenager abused by her stepfather and neglected by her desperate mother, meets
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Park, a nice, normal boy of the grunge set. The rest is left as an exercise to our potential reader.

Qualitatively speaking, I found Rowell's rendering of this all-too-common situation uncommonly realistic. Having myself been a boy immersed in new love many ages ago, her descriptions of the all-encompassing palpitations of youthful amour rang with truth. Her style is easy to assimilate and makes for a quick and leisurely read. She also renders her chosen setting, 1986 Omaha, with skill and accuracy.

I will say that as a 'young adult' novel, which I believe this to be designated by the publisher, it comes off a bit strong. There is little content of a directly sexual nature but the profusion of four letter words is bothersome. I suppose it depends on what your definition of 'young adult' is but I'd feel a bit wrong handing this to my daughters until they are late in their teens.

In summary, Rowell does a great job of capturing that spark of youthful love that we all hopefully find at some point in our lives. Her characters are well rendered and one could easily believe she knew these people in real life (as I suspect she did). It captures well the fleeting and potent emotions of youthful love.
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LibraryThing member LaneLiterati
Good story overall, but a so-so ending. Reads really fast and kept my interest. Reminded me a bit of S.E. Hinton stories (if they had more female characters), as well as Plague Year and a few possible nods to Carrie.
LibraryThing member MissAliGirl
When I received the review request from St. Martin's Press, as I always do, I popped over to Goodreads and Amazon to read the synopsis and take a closer look at the author. Had I gone by the blurb on Goodreads (the one shown above), I may have passed this book up. It was what I saw on Amazon that
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had me anxious to read Eleanor & Park:

Bono met his wife in high school, Park says.
So did Jerry Lee Lewis, Eleanor answers.
I’m not kidding, he says.
You should be, she says, we’re 16.
What about Romeo and Juliet?
Shallow, confused, then dead.
I love you, Park says.
Wherefore art thou, Eleanor answers.
I’m not kidding, he says.
You should be.
Set over the course of one school year in 1986, this is the story of two star-crossed misfits—smart enough to know that first love almost never lasts, but brave and desperate enough to try. When Eleanor meets Park, you’ll remember your own first love—and just how hard it pulled you under.

It was the banter between these two that I found intriguing. Plus, I am a product of the eighties...if I thought I could get away with it, I would probably still where my hair in some ridiculous angular cut. Okay, not really but you will still find me lovingly listening to "new wave" music while I clean my house. Anyway, what I'm saying is the book seamed like something I would like.

I was wrong.

This book is something that I loved.

When I read on my Kindle, I highlight all the bits I want to remember for when I write my review. There are usually a handful. If you peak at my Eleanor & Park file there is yellow all over the place. There is so much good stuff here, it has it all.

Eleanor has a rough life and that is putting it mildly. After a year of couch surfing she's brought back home to live with her mother, her four younger siblings and her creeper stepfather. She has to share a room with all her brothers and sisters, there is no door on the bathroom, almost all of her possessions were thrown out while she was gone and her mother can't even remember to buy Eleanor her own toothbrush. To say she is an awkward outcast with fluffy red hair and a ridiculous wardrobe would be an understatement.

Park is the only (half) Asian kid in the area. He's not sure where he fits in and no one else really seems to know either. He's not a pariah at school but he is somewhat on the outskirts of the 'in crowd' and is careful to not be completely pushed to the outer limits.

This unlikely pair is forced to sit together on the bus but don't talk or acknowledge each other for weeks. Yet a relationship, a bond, forms between them that is undeniable and utterly heart oozing sweet. When they first interact and become more than two strangers simultaneously riding a bus, watch out because all the warm fuzzies will be spreading from your ears to your toes. The first hand holding is to die for cute.

Holding Eleanor's hand was like holding a butterfly. Or a heartbeat. Like holding something complete and completely alive.

If you've ever wondered what that feels like, it's a lot like melting - but more violent.

As the relationship develops, so do the insecurities that Eleanor and Park both harbor and so do the secrets of Eleanor's home life and struggle with girls at school. It is the love that these two feel for each other that carry them through each day and living without each other becomes something of an impossibility.

The exchanges between these two is nothing less than adorable and their inner monologues are even better.

She sat completely still because she didn't have any other option. She tried to remember what kind of animals paralyzed their prey before they ate them... Maybe Park had paralyzed her with his ninja magic, his Vulcan handhold, and now he was going to eat her. That would be awesome.

This started out as such a quirky and fun story, I often found myself giggling aloud. As the story became more intimate and serious, it began to tug at my heart and with one absolute 'mom moment', I was reduced to tears. Not something I do regularly with books.

I won't lie and tell you this a super feel good HEA type of book. It has many super feel good moments but the crux of the story is more profound and questions the power of love - what it makes you do - and what you are willing to give up to hold on to it.

Now, I have recently berated a book for having an untidy ending. Eleanor & Park's ending leaves a lot to the imagination as well. But, I think this ending works and I'll explain why.

First, this is a standalone book. I have not invested hours upon hours developing deep emotions for the story, nor have I spent years waiting and wondering what is going to happen next and how it is going to end. Second, these are teens experiencing their first love, the kind of love that your heart hurts when you are away from the person for an hour. The type of love that stays with you in your heart forever, even if the relationship itself doesn't last. When you're young you think everything will last forever and always be as perfect as it is now. It's not reality. Life gets in the way, growth gets in the way. In my head, this ending was reminiscent of that sort of love and it was quite fitting. Others may not agree.

I would recommend this book to anyone who loves a first love, somewhat coming of age type story or someone like me who loves the nostalgic feelings that can't help but surface when reading about young love in the age of your own teen years.
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LibraryThing member spincerely
Definitely a book that makes you swoon. If you want to lose yourself for a few hours, this book is perfect. A couple of people mentioned having issues with the writing style, but I think it is perfect. I didn't really even stop reading long enough to think about the writing style until I was 2/3
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through. I just fell in love with the characters and just wanted more and more.
I love how it was set in the 80"s though there were few parallels to my life except that I also rode a bus and had a walkman. (Oh yes, and a first love too) I think it is interesting to read about people who grew up in the 80's with younger parents as my parents were older. My father served in WWII, not the Korean War like Park's dad and they surely never smoked pot like Eleanor's parents.
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LibraryThing member DeweyEver
Out of Park's small act of kindness to let the new girl, Eleanor, sit next to him on the bus grows a slow but steady relationship between the two. Rowell is a master at creating characters and writing adorable, totally believable dialogue between the two teens in love. I highly recommend this
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well-written book to fans of John Green or Sarah Dessen.
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LibraryThing member bethorne
4.5 stars of 80s young love magnificence. I never thought hand-holding would the ultimate in swoon, but I grinned for days.

But I wouldn't compare it to fluff and stuff like Anna and the French Kiss. There's pain and reality here beyond angst. What I *would* compare it to is My Mad Fat Diary.
LibraryThing member ZabetReading
A sweet love story of two "misfits". Had potential for a truly riveting story about a girl surviving an abusive and neglectful household but spent a little too much time on teen angst and romance. Full review to come.

Awards

Boston Globe–Horn Book Award (Winner — Fiction — 2013)
Audie Award (Finalist — Teens — 2014)
Sequoyah Book Award (Nominee — High School — 2016)
Pennsylvania Young Reader's Choice Award (Nominee — Young Adult — 2015)
The Morning News Tournament of Books (Quarterfinalist — 2014)
Gateway Readers Award (Nominee — 2016)
Indies Choice Book Award (Winner — Young Adult — 2014)
Green Mountain Book Award (Nominee — 2015)
Garden State Teen Book Award (Nominee — Grades 9-12 — 2016)
Thumbs Up! Award (Winner — 2014)
Blue Hen Book Award (Nominee — 2015)
Colorado Blue Spruce Award (Nominee — 2016)
Florida Teens Read Award (Nominee — 2015)
Amelia Elizabeth Walden Award (Winner — Winner — 2014)
Virginia Readers' Choice (Nominee — High School — 2016)
Kids' Book Choice Awards (Finalist — 2014)
Printz Award (Honor — 2014)
Black-Eyed Susan Book Award (Nominee — High School — 2015)
Odyssey Award (Honor — 2014)
Volunteer State Book Award (Nominee — High School — 2016)
Iowa High School Book Award (Winner — 2015)
NCSLMA YA Book Award (Nominee — High School — 2016)
Evergreen Teen Book Award (Nominee — 2016)
Magnolia Book Award (Winner — Grades 9-12 — 2015)
Rhode Island Teen Book Award (Nominee — 2015)
AAR Annual Reader Poll (Best Young Adult — 2014)
Children's Favorites Awards (Finalist — 2014)
Great Reads from Great Places (Nebraska — 2016)
Nerdy Book Award (Young Adult Literature — 2013)
Reading Olympics (High School — 2024)

ISBN

1250012570 / 9781250012579

UPC

884186335213
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