Eleanor and Park
Rainbow Rowell
St. Martin’s Griffin: New York, 2013
ISBN: 9781250012579
St. Martin’s Griffin: New York, 2013
ISBN: 9781250012579
Eleanor
and Park are two 16-year-olds living in Nebraska. They couldn’t be
more different: he comes from a middle-class family, has the right
clothes, music, and a good family. Eleanor doesn’t. She shares a room
with four younger siblings, her mom is on a second marriage to an
abusive, alcoholic stepfather, and there’s never enough to go around.
Eleanor is roundish and has red hair. Park is short, and
Korean-American. She is bullied, he is not, but when they sit next to
each other on the bus, slowly, very slowly, a deep and true affection
begins to develop. This achingly realistic novel of first love is as
authentic as it is simple. It stunningly redefines what romance means
for the YA market, and is strongly recommended to anyone who has a heart
(aged 15 and up).
I’m
not kidding. This. Book. GAWD. It was on my radar for many, MANY
moons, my amigas kept telling me to read it, the Internet went crazy for
it...it took me forever, but I’m very glad I finally did. It is so
profound, yet so quiet and unassuming. It is simple. Yet
it is...brilliant. It is incredibly moving yet not extraordinary, which
makes it so, and I hope to see more books like this, and way less
sensationalism and love triangles from now on in YA because of it! I
want to just throw a bunch of adjectives at you to describe it, like
heartbreaking, breathtaking, delicate, moving...just trust me and read
it, already - both boys and girls of all mature(r) ages reading this!
Here are a few of the details I’d like to debrief:
