Module 4: Eleanor and Park, by Rainbow Rowell

Summary: Park’s first impression of Eleanor is that she’s all wrong. Wrong hair, wrong clothes, wrong attitude. He shares his seat with her on the bus just so people will stop staring and pointing. Eleanor isn’t much fonder of Park, who shuts himself off with comic books and mix tapes. Before they know what’s happening, Park and Eleanor are sharing comic books, becoming friends and more in no time. But mean kids and Eleanor’s nasty stepfather threaten the happiness that Park and Eleanor have found.

Reference: Rowell, R. (2013). Eleanor and Park. New York, NY: St. Martin’s Press.

Impressions: I love Eleanor and Park. I think the characters are wonderfully complicated, and Rowell writes about first love beautifully. The feeling of being awkward and trying so hard to find yourself, and then finding the one person who really makes you feel like the person you’re supposed to be is in this book. I also love the musical references. This story is sad and funny and hopeful in turns. I’d like to talk to young people about Eleanor and Park, to see if they respond the way that I did. I think a lot of the references might be lost on them, and I wonder if the ‘80’s setting, which seemed accessible to me, would be alienating for teenagers. I think, though, that Rowell writes well enough of the terrors and wonders of high school and first love to make this story a great experience for readers of any age.

Review: Half-Korean sophomore Park Sheridan is getting through high school by lying low, listening to the Smiths (it's 1986), reading Alan Moore's Watchmen comics, never raising his hand in class, and avoiding the kids he grew up with. Then new girl Eleanor gets on the bus. Tall, with bright red hair and a dress code all her own, she's an instant target. Too nice not to let her sit next to him, Park is alternately resentful and guilty for not being kinder to her. When he realizes she's reading his comics over his shoulder, a silent friendship is born. And slowly, tantalizingly, something more. Adult author Rowell (Attachments), making her YA debut, has a gift for showing what Eleanor and Park, who tell the story in alternating segments, like and admire about each other. Their love is believable and thrilling, but it isn't simple: Eleanor's family is broke, and her stepfather abuses her mother. When the situation turns dangerous, Rowell keeps things surprising, and the solution--imperfect but believable--maintains the novel's delicate balance of light and dark. Ages 13-up. Agent: Christopher Schelling, Selectric Artists. (Mar.)

Eleanor and Park [book review]. (2012). Publisher’s Weekly, 259(50), 62-63. Retrieved from http://libproxy.library.unt.edu:2200/ehost.

Suggested Use: An Eleanor and Park movie is in the works, but, no matter how well it turns out, the experience of reading this book would be a shame to miss. I think a “soon to be a movie” book talk would be a good way to get kids to read books like this one that are about to become films. I would also put together a complementary book display of young adult novels whose movie versions are in progress, with Eleanor and Park front and center.