Eleanor & Park

Original author: Rainbow Rowell

THE LOWDOWN:
Two misfits. One extraordinary love.
Eleanor… Red hair, wrong clothes.  Standing behind him until he turns his head.  Lying beside him until he wakes up.  Making everyone else seem drabber and flatter and never good enough… Eleanor.
Park… He knows she’ll love a song before he plays it for her.  He laughs at her jokes before she ever gets to the punch line.  There’s a place on his chest, just below his throat, that makes her want to keep promises… Park.
Set over the course of one school year in 1986, this is the story of two star-crossed sixteen-year-olds – smart enough to know that first love almost never lasts, but brave and desperate enough to try.

 

FIRST IMPRESSION:
He’s stopped trying to bring her back.
She only came back when she felt like it, in dreams and lies and broken-down déjà vu.
Like, he’d be driving to work, and he’s see a girl with red hair standing on the corner-and he’d swear, for half a choking moment, that it was her.
Then he’d see that the girl’s hair was more blond than red.
And that she was holding a cigarette . . . And wearing a Sex Pistols T-shirt.
Eleanor hated the Sex Pistols.

 

SNAPSHOT:
Told in loving, pulsating detail through alternating chapters by the titular characters, Eleanor and Park, this punk rock high school is a romance for the ages.  When tough new-girl Eleanor—who is a walking target with her crazy red hair, outdated and ill-fitting clothes, and big body—sits next to Park (Korean American, music geek, nice guy) on the bus, the slow burn of first love ignites.  From comic books and popular bands to Star Wars and handholding, the romance in this story progresses steadily, geekily, and with so much reality.  The sadness of real life, the pain of loss, is what will draw readers in and hook them deeply. 

Appropriate for ages 14+.  Some strong language and intense situations.  Park is a positive romantic male lead.
Deals with first love, domestic abuse, poverty, and that you should never judge a person based on looks.

 

GET IT ON YOUR SHELF:
If you…
Enjoy some ‘80s nostalgia
• Are a misfit or like The Misfits
• Know that life’s problems can be solved by the perfect mix tape
• Need your romantic leads freaky and geeky
• Have ever loved and lost

 

THE ESSENTIALS:
Contemporary YA romance
Hardcover & Ebook, 320 pages
Published February 26th, 2013 by St. Martin’s Press (ISBN 1250012570)
http://us.macmillan.com/eleanorpark/RainbowRowell

 

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