Bono met his wife in high school, Park says.
So did Jerry Lee Lewis, Eleanor answers.
I’m not kidding, he says.
You should be, she says, we’re 16.
What about Romeo and Juliet?
Shallow, confused, then dead.
I love you, Park says.
Wherefore art thou, Eleanor answers.
I’m not kidding, he says.
You should be.
Set over the course of one school year in 1986, this is the story of two star-crossed misfits—smart enough to know that first love almost never lasts, but brave and desperate enough to try. When Eleanor meets Park, you’ll remember your own first love—and just how hard it pulled you under.
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6
FoxenTheSnow (Grade: A–) I really loved how appropriately teenaged and self-aware the characters were--which makes for sometimes-uncomfortable reading, particularly as they unravel issues of race. I loved the honest, raw romance (I remember writing a note to a boy when I was seventeen--"Dear A. Being around you makes me want to eat my own hand . . ."), the sparks, the self-conscious accidental poetry of their love-struck thoughts, Eleanor's poverty and bodily awareness, and the spot-on conversations about pop culture.
(Rated on Sep 22, 2013)
6
kynswain (Grade: A+) What a beautiful book, not what I expected it to be. Young love, music, family life. It has it all. If your looking for a book to touch your soul this is the one.
(Rated on Jan 3, 2014)
6
bennett_the_ceo
(Grade: A–) My experience with young adult romances is lacking, so I was inevitably comparing this book to "The Fault in Our Stars" as I went along. It surpasses John Green's novel in the fact that its characters speak believable, down-to-earth English, and with the way Rainbow Rowell interweaves the male and female mindsets. "The Fault in Our Stars" may bring you to tears but "Eleanor & Park" will forge an honest connection with your soul.
(Grade: A–) My experience with young adult romances is lacking, so I was inevitably comparing this book to "The Fault in Our Stars" as I went along. It surpasses John Green's novel in the fact that its characters speak believable, down-to-earth English, and with the way Rainbow Rowell interweaves the male and female mindsets. "The Fault in Our Stars" may bring you to tears but "Eleanor & Park" will forge an honest connection with your soul.(Rated on Feb 19, 2018)
4
notesinthemargin (Grade: A) Rainbow Rowell cuts out your heart and stomps on it. She brings a kind of beautiful tragedy to a first love story. It's not all sunshine and daisies. Thoughtful.
(Rated on Jan 16, 2014)
4
VonBrandtner (Grade: A–) Really good coming of age book about two social misfits finding each other and falling in love.
(Rated on Jan 28, 2014)
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