Book Review: Eleanor & Park

Eleanor & Park

by Rainbow Rowell

"Best Fiction for YA"

Summary

A new girl has arrived to the neighborhood, the Flats, located in Omaha, Nebraska. As she boards the bus for her first day of high school, she is immediately treated poorly by the way that she looks and dresses. Eleanor is a larger redheaded girl that dresses more like a boy than a girl. Her hair stands out from a mile away because of its color and kinky curls. Her clothes stand out even more so because they are so ill fitted, worn out, and flat out ugly. By this time in the year everyone has already claimed their bus seat. As Eleanor walks down the rows of non-accepting high school students, she is left only to share a seat with a half Korean boy that goes by the name of Park. Park was not excited to have Eleanor sit next to him, but the bus driver was yelling at her to choose a seat and she had nowhere else to go. The two did not talk on the bus at all, yet she still sat with him on the bus ride home.

The days at school pass slowly because Eleanor was constantly bullied. The bullying started the first day on the bus with Steve, Park’s best friend since elementary school, and his girlfriend, Tina, Park’s girlfriend in the sixth grade, harassing her based on her looks. Steve is a loudmouth and Tina is a popular girl, so they go together like peanut butter and jelly. Tina treats Eleanor the worst out of everyone in the school, especially in gym class when she pulls pranks on her like putting feminine pads with red marker on her locker, calling her names, and dropping her clothes in the toilet.
 
On the bus rides, the thirty minute trek to school, Park likes to bring comic books to read, and Eleanor begins to read the comic books over his shoulder. The book is told in both Eleanor‘s point of view and Park's point of view, switching off after every chapter or so. You were able to see the exact same scene but from a different point of view and realize that neither of them are very comfortable with themselves on the inside or out. As the days progress, Park starts to catch on that Eleanor is reading over his shoulder, finding it both creepy and sweet. One day he decides to bring a stack of comics for her and leaves it on the seat without saying a word. Both of them are extremely intelligent and she takes it home and finishes it in one night. Park is always on the bus before Eleanor and each day he brings a new stack of comics for her. One day, the silence is eventually broken and they begin small talk on the bus about comics and music. Park let Eleanor borrow his Walkman and soon enough he is making her mixed tapes on cassette tapes.
 
Eleanor was kicked out of the house one year ago by her stepdad, Richie. Richie is an abusive husband who treats both kids and wife horribly. Eleanor’s mom is a beautiful woman and an almost exact replica of Eleanor if she wasn’t so chubby. Eleanor constantly struggles for the reasoning that her mother sticks with Richie, but she is constantly reminded that with a total of five children it makes it virtually impossible for her to be on her own. Her mother is not allowed to drive, rarely has food in the kitchen to cook, and is stuck in an abusive marriage. Eleanor has an array of siblings from ages eleven to two. Maisie, Ben, Mouse, and little Richie have all succumbed to Richie’s power and call him dad against Eleanor’s will. Eleanor shares a room with almost all of her siblings, in a bed not even the size of a twin while the others sleep on the floor. Eleanor’s real father is engaged and has a step child that he prefers to be with instead of his real children. This is shown specifically when Eleanor is asked to babysit for $10 and only received $7 and gets shamed for eating their food.
 
Park's mother and father met in Korea while his father was serving in the military. His father had just lost his brother in Vietnam to the war and was sent out in his place. The two of them married in Seoul and moved back to America. Park’s grandparents, on his father's side, live right next-door and they have weekly dinners together. Park has a younger brother, Josh, who is much bigger than him and looks less Korean than him. Josh and his father have always been closer than Park and his father. Park's father always called him a “pussy" and gets onto him for not being able to drive a stick shift, the one stipulation he has to Park getting his license.
 
Park and Eleanor slowly become closer and closer, sharing their interest in comic books, music, and their sheer intelligence and sarcasm. They slowly become more physically together and begin holding hands and resting heads on shoulders on the bus. Sadly, Eleanor cannot have anyone over at her house because of her horrible stepfather. Eleanor has to lie to her mother about going over to a friends house, Tina, who lives in the neighborhood, but in reality she is going over to Park’s house every day. Park’s mother is not a fan of Eleanor at first because of the way she dresses and acts, the exact opposite of Park’s mom who is a well put together fashionista who sells Avon products. Because Park and Eleanor tend to hang out more and become somewhat of a couple, Park’s mom is forced to accept her. It also helps that Park’s father knows about Richie because they all grew up together at the same schools and in the same neighborhood. His father pulls Eleanor aside one day as she’s leaving and lets her know that he knows how awful of a person Richie is and that Eleanor is always welcome over at the house, especially if she wants to stay for dinner on the grounds that they don’t have to ask her if she wants to stay anymore. Park’s mom really comes to accept Eleanor when Eleanor finally lets her do a mini makeover, fixing up her curls and allowing her to put on a little bit of make up, but not before Park's mom made Park model how to put on eyeliner and the aftermath of the look. Park began to wear eyeliner to help Eleanor understand that looks don’t matter and he loves her make up or no make up.
 
Eleanor has an internal struggle throughout the book about her looks and weight. She doesn’t think someone as cute as Park would want to go for a girl like her, but when the point of view turns to Park, he is an absolute awe of all her curves and freckled body. Even though the two only reach second base, you can tell by the words and feelings emitted in the story that the two did not need to go farther to express their love, even if they wanted to.Park told Eleanor he loved her very early on in the relationship, yet Eleanor never said I love you back. Park was never hurt by it and continued to tell her that he loved her. Park did everything he could to stand up for Eleanor, at one point, even kicking his best friend, Steve, in the mouth using his taekwondo skills. This, surprisingly, impressed Park’s father more than anything else he had done in his life. Eleanor was also receiving disgusting messages written on her textbook cover by an anonymous writer and Park insisted on finding out who it was and jokingly saying he was going to kick them in the face as well.
 
One night, Eleanor comes home to the sounds of Richie and her mother screaming at each other. When she goes to her room she is awestruck to find all of her belongings broken and trashed. Her younger siblings knew about Park and threatened to tell mom and dad if Eleanor didn’t let them borrow the comics, Walkman, and Avon make up that Park's mom gave to her. All of those items were left disheveled on top of Eleanor’s bed. Eleanor is distraught knowing that Richie now knows about her and Park and soon found out that it was Richie who was writing the disgusting messages on her book covers. Knowing this information, she climbs out of the bedroom window and runs through the neighborhood, trying to avoid the inevitable situation. What seems like a threat at first, Eleanor realizes that running into Tina was the best thing that could’ve happened to her that evening. Tina brings Eleanor back to Steve’s garage where they’re all drinking beer and smoking pot. Steve drunkenly stumbles to get Park while Eleanor stands next to him ready to take the blame.
 
Eleanor explains to Park that she needs to leave town immediately and go to her uncle's house who offered to host her for the summer for theater camp. Park immediately agrees and decides he’s going to steal his parents car and take Eleanor wherever she needs to go, leaving a note for his parents knowing that he’s going to be in extreme trouble. He waits for his dad to get home before leaving and stalls for twenty more minutes before trying to escape, all the while Eleanor waits in Park's grandparent's RV. Park is caught by his father and he immediately explains what’s going on, and, to his surprise, his father hands him the keys to the stick shift truck, tells him to be safe, and to call when he arrives. He even gives him some extra cash for gas and snacks. Park grabs Eleanor and they begin their drive to her uncle's house.
 
The two of them soon realize that, no matter what, Eleanor cannot return to Riche's house because of the way he treats her and the possibility of a supposed rape based on the messages that he leaves her on her textbook. Eleanor still refuses to tell Park that she loves him, but he keeps repeating it anyways.
 
Park drops Eleanor off to welcomed arms at her aunt and uncle‘s house and she stays there for the remainder of the school year, forced to attend school for the last four weeks even though they are only taking finals. Park writes Eleanor nonstop and even sends her gifts, but she never opens a single one. She does try to write him but never knows what to say and always ends up trashing the paper.
 
The book ends with Eleanor at theater camp and Park receiving a postcard with only three words on it.

Book Trailers

A wonderful student made video was found, but there were no formal videos. I loved the way they portrayed Eleanor, despite no red hair, in the video.

St. Martin's Press created three sixteen second videos, but not enough to tell a story.

Themes

Bullying, Abuse, Violence, Acceptance, Weight, Coming of Age, Young Love, Protection, Substance Abuse, Homelessness

Similar Themed Books

Love is a Mixtape by Rob Sheffied (more adult than YA), Dumplin' by Julie Murphy, and Tape by Steve Camden.

Other Books by Rainbow Rowell

Rowell has written five books, two short stories, and a comic.

Teaching Ideas

Discuss the bullying Eleanor went through. Answers will vary but should be similar.

• clothes thrown into toilet in gym
• belongings stolen
• rude words written on the textbook cover
• rude names shouted at her
• not letting her sit anywhere on the bus on day one

Discuss how it affected others in her life. Answers will vary but should be similar.

• Park fights Steve and is suspended
• Park wears eyeliner and fights with his father
• Park's mother, Mindy, is not accepting at first
• Beebi and DeNice were back up to Eleanor

Discuss how bullying at a young age can affect one's life in a negative way. Mention how Mrs. Burt wasn't the best of help most of the time. Discuss how you would want a teacher to react when you come to them for bullying. Have students write down five people at the school that they trust: teachers, friends, principals, etc. Have them share, if comfortable, with the class who they chose and why they chose that person.

Share the following website, Stop Bullying, and discuss what you can do to help others around you.