Book #24

Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell

328 pages

 

Did Eleanor & Park change my life? No. But it was a very good read and I enjoyed my short time spent in Rowell's world.

Eleanor moves back in with her mother after spending the last year living with a family friend after being kicked out by her stepfather. The stepfather's still in the picture, as well as her many siblings. She doesn't have anything to call her own, and no way of knowing how to survive high school.

Park is a nice, "normal" boy who has two parents who love each other and a beautiful, stable home. He loves punk rock and comic books.

When the two of them meet, it is not love at first sight. It's more like annoyance at first sight. But after a few days of sharing a bus seat together, they start to see a spark in other another that no one else has quite seen yet.

I normally am not a fan of back-and-forth story-telling. This book was a true exception. It didn't feel like it was going back to Eleanor's story then back to Park's. It was a coherent read and was magnified by the fact that you were able to discover both sides of the same story.

This is also a VERY rare book in the sense that after it was over I thought --- wow ... I'd love to see this made into a movie! I definitely think it could fit right in when The Spectacular Now and Perks of Being a Wallflower.

Next up: Glitter and Glue by Kelly Corrigan