Eleanor and Park

Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell was a book that many of my students read last year.  I won a free copy from Goodreads.  Did you know they have giveaways?  And as soon as my copy arrived it went from one student to the next to the next.  I even had a girl ask me if she could borrow it over the summer to use it for her summer reading project.  So needless to say, once it was finally back in my possession, I had pretty high expectations.


To be honest, I'm not sure they were met.  I did finish the book, however there were several elements about the book that just bothered me a bit.


#1: I almost put it down within the first few pages due to  the overuse of foul language.  The overuse of foul language in YA books drives me nuts.  Totally unnecessary and really just annoying to read.


#2: I had a hard time believing the love between these two characters.  They seemed so unlike each other that I had a hard time seeing the connection and really believing two characters like Eleanor and Park would fall for each other.


#3: (This one is totally my own fault)  I just took too long to read it.  I only read this while at school and so it was very disconnected for me because I usually would only read it for ten minutes at a time and never gave myself the chance to get lost in the story and the characters.


Despite these observations, I do still think the book has many redeeming qualities and would appeal to a lot of YA readers, so I'll also discuss the pros.


#1: It was told from two different perspectives and switched chapters between Eleanor and Park.  I love when authors do this, as it  allows the readers to truly understand multiple characters since you see their inner thoughts.


#2: The characterization in general.  We've been discussing how authors create round characters by utilizing all five methods of characterization and this author has a good grasp on this.  I loved both characters.  I just didn't see their love for each other.


#3: Figurative language, similes, and metaphors.  Rainbow Rowell can write.  Here is one example of the kind of writing you might see:


"Or maybe, he thought now, he just didn't recognize all those other girls.  The way a computer drive will spit out a disk if it doesn't recognize the formatting.  When he touched Eleanor's hand, he recognized her.  He knew."

So there you have it.  The pros and cons of Eleanor and Park.  On to my next book...