Eleanor and Park Blog 1

            When I first enrolled into English 325 and I saw the reading list I was nervous.  I have never been a strong reader, and I didn’t know what to expect when I saw some of the books on the list.  Don’t get me wrong, I’m open to mostly any kind of book, but I’m always a bit nervous to try something new.  When I bought Eleanor and Park at the WSU Bookie I was not looking forward to reading it.  I noticed that the cover had two kids sitting near each other, not looking at one another, with headphones on.  At least the headphones only formed an ampersand between the names instead of a heart.  And in fact, the headphones were the one thing on the cover that made me want to read the book because I’ve always been such a fan of music.  As I was reading through I realized that it was a bit different from some teen love stories.  Typically I think of a teen story as an awkward boy and a popular girl, or vice versa.  This was different in that Park just got by, and Eleanor was one of the weirdest girls any of the other characters had seen.  Neither of them was the popular kid, so I was a little bit confused as to how the story would play out.  I think it is easy to relate this novel to the story of Romeo and Juliet.  Two star-crossed lovers, in Eleanor and Park, who come from completely different backgrounds that find a way to fall in love.  As I progressed through the novel I felt like Rowell was trying to sort of break down stereotypes.  I loved the way that plot built between Eleanor and Richie.  It was clear that there was some extreme tension, but I think Rowell did a good job of keeping the severity of it hid.  I never expected Richie to be the jerk that was writing on Eleanor’s books, and it was really bothersome when I found out.

            I think this book places adolescents in a very real environment.  Rowell does a great job of depicting what are real life problems to adolescents.  I’m going to make the assumption that a lot of adults think of teenage problems as insignificant, or material, but there were some very real problems explored in this book.  I loved how Rowell explored divorce and angry controlling step-fathers.  I thought the step-father was a very stereotypical character, but it also intensified the storyline.  I think this novel would appeal to adolescents because it is very relatable.  They can relate to the various relationship problems throughout the book.  They know that all of the problems explored in this book are real problems, and I think it would successfully interest adolescents.  In fact I have already started to think about teaching this book in my class.

            On an A-F scale I would rate this book at a solid B+.  It pulled on my emotions, it made me questions social class, it scared me, it made me happy, and it made me sad.  It did not take the place in my heart that my favorite book has, but it was a very good book.