Eleanor & Park – February 26, 2013 PDF

Eleanor & Park Hardcover – February 26, 2013
Author: Visit ‘s Rainbow Rowell Page ID: 1250012570

.com Review

An Best Book of the Month, March 2013: While Eleanor & Park is technically classified as YA lit and has a cutesy cover, don’t let the stigma of “books for teens” fool or deter you. It is written about teens, sure, but the themes are so universal that anyone who survived high school will relate to the lives of the two protagonists. Eleanor is the new girl in town and her wild red hair and patchwork outfits are not helping her blend in. She ends up sitting next to Park on the bus, whose tendencies towards comic books don’t jibe with the rest of his family’s love of sports. They sit in awkward silence every day until Park notices that Eleanor is reading his comics over his shoulder; he begins to slide them closer to her side of the seat and thus begins their love story. Their relationship grows gradually–making each other mixed tapes (it is 1986 after all) and discussing X-Men characters–until they both find themselves looking forward to the bus ride more than any other part of the day. Things aren’t easy: Eleanor is bullied at school and then goes home to a threatening family situation; Park’s parents do not approve of Eleanor’s awkward ways. Ultimately, though, this is a book about two people who just really, really like each other and who believe that they can overcome any obstacle standing in the way of their happiness. It’s a gem of a book. –Caley Anderson

From School Library Journal

Gr 9 Up-Eleanor, 15, is the new girl at school and bullied because she’s overweight and dresses in a flamboyant manner. Park is a half-Korean boy who has lived in Omaha, Nebraska, all his life but still feels like an outsider. This is a story of first love, which very slowly builds from the first day Eleanor sits next to Park on the school bus. First they ignore each other, and then they slowly become friends through their love of comic books and 1980s alternative music. Park is the only good thing in Eleanor’s life. Her home life is a miserable exercise in trying to stay out of her abusive stepfather’s way, and finding new ways to wear the same clothes repeatedly since there is no money for anything extra. Park adores everything about Eleanor, and she finds refuge at his house after school with his understanding parents. Things finally explode at Eleanor’s house and Eleanor and Park’s relationship is truly tested. The narrative points of view alternate between Eleanor and Park, adding dimension to Rowell’s story (St. Martin’s Griffin, 2013), and narrators Rebecca Lowman and Sunil Malhtra competently voice the pair. Give this to teenage girls who crave romance.-Julie Paladino, East Chapel Hill High School, NCα(c) Copyright 2013. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

–This text refers to the Audio CD edition.

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Hardcover: 336 pagesPublisher: St. Martin’s Griffin (February 26, 2013)Language: EnglishISBN-10: 1250012570ISBN-13: 978-1250012579 Product Dimensions: 5.8 x 1.2 x 8.4 inches Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies) Best Sellers Rank: #828 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #16 in Books > Teens > Romance > Contemporary
When I received the review request from St. Martin’s Press, as I always do, I popped over to Goodreads and 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 that 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.
I picked this book up for some light reading on a day home sick from work. I saw the high reviews and thought, not my typical read and I certainly am not the target demographic but, I’ll give it a whirl.

I wasn’t expecting what I received from reading this book. How to explain what I did get…and the following isn’t intended to be melodramatic.

I was sucker punched, emotionally invested (hugely), horrified, awed, saddened, at times uplifted, grateful for some aspects of human nature and then human nature made me horrified by morally repugnant events. I guess what I’m trying to communicate without being overly sappy (and failing) how much this book made me feel. Highs and lows. It was demoralizing and insightful at the same time. There are so many simple moments of raw emotion on each opposite end of the spectrum and they transition so rapidly, you find yourself going, whoah how’d we get here when we were literally just over there? But in a good way.

It is an emotional roller coaster, but one of simplicity. The writing is fairly clean and well presented. The characters are complex in their simplicity and they invoked strong reactions in me. I wanted to get to the next sentence, paragraph, and page as quickly as possible to find out more about them. I was cheering and jeering alternately for almost each primary figure and several secondary ones.

The book starts a little slow and then when you’re not looking or expecting it, your stomach drops out on you, just like riding a roller coaster. All of a sudden your roped into this complex scenario which almost everyone who’s been in high school has experienced to a lesser or greater degree.

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