Most teenagers want to feel accepted. They aim for popularity, friends, and beauty. Eleanor wants to belong, but she doesn’t know how. She feels her hair is too red, her body is a little too plump, and she thinks she may be a little too poor. Eleanor starts a new life at a new school, and she’s introduced to a life of loneliness and harassment. Can a stranger on the school bus change her life? All she needs is that one person that makes her smile through all her pain.
Rainbow Rowell expresses the angst of teenage years perfectly through the book. She writes in a style adults and teenagers can understand, and she doesn’t patronize advanced readers. Eleanor and Park was published in 2012, giving a more modern look on the topic of misunderstood teenagers without stretching clichés. Rowell’s tear-jerking novel won Goodreads Choice awards for best Young-Adult Fiction. She’s also written four other books.
Eleanor and Park gives a new perspective of angsty teenage years - a girl with self-esteem problems, and a boy with a never-ending collection of comic books and alternative music. The two meet unintentionally, the awkwardness building between the two when they sit next to each other. What happens when the two have the courage to talk to each other? When Park gives a comic book to the shy Eleanor, both their worlds turn upside down. This book could be considered a love story, but it turns out much more than that.
This book will leave readers clinging to a blanket, and it’s definitely a read you won’t want to put down. Each sentence drags readers to a pit that revolves around this book. Once it’s over, readers will be stuck with thoughts, questions, and a new perspective about teenager’s lives. This book is a must read, teenagers or adults.