Eleanor & Park

Beautiful * Tingly * Soulful

I’m bummed that I’m late to the party with ‘Eleanor & Park’ by Rainbow Rowell, but I’m thrilled that I made it. I adore this book and now am sad that I purchased it as an electronic book. Sometimes it’s easier to say goodbye to characters when you have the tangible pages to remind you that you can return to them. A month or so ago, I was looking for a book club to join and found a discussion group in Indiana (where I am not). However, they were going to read this book and I thought “what the hey!” I’m so happy that I threw caution to the wind and was introduced to two characters I connected with so deeply.

Rainbow introduces us to two high schoolers that meet on a bus and fundamentally change each other’s beings in just a few months. I sigh when I think of this book. Beyond Rainbow’s ability to unfold a story, effortlessly tug your heart, pull your breath in anticipation, she brilliantly created an experience where I felt I personally was sitting amongst my friends, Eleanor and Park. 

My life as a half ‘white’-half ‘asian’ American was reflected well in that of the male protagonist Park. I remember being nine, in the school yard, and a boy I didn’t know, in a grade I was not in, came up to me, pulled his eyes into slants, saying “Ching! Chong! Ching! Chong!” I was confused at first. Was he doing this to me? Then when he shouted in my face, “Chinese! Chinese!” and ran away, it was definitive I was his target. However, I’m not Chinese, my mother is of Japanese descent. And I thought, “How dumb to make fun of me for something I’m not.” It made its impression, however. Obviously. I appreciate Rainbow’s attention to the ‘mixed kid’ experience. It’s not a huge part of the story, but it is a part of Park and she captures it perfectly. It’s a testament to Rainbow’s ability to create a fully rounded person, not just a character.

not.” It made its impression, however. Obviously. I appreciate Rainbow’s attention to the ‘mixed kid’ experience. It’s not a huge part of the story, but it is a part of Park and she captures it perfectly. It’s a testament to Rainbow’s ability to create a fully rounded person, not just a character.

The 80’s Easter eggs were so much fun and it was as if Rainbow had been with me during my childhood. Although I was only a young child in 1987, many of the same activities represented in Rainbow’s 1987 were still fully alive in my 90’s adolescence. I did not ride a bus to school, but I did ride one in the summer for day camp. Since I was a kid, seating arrangements were not quite as restricted. However, who you sat with was quite a big deal and had a few “Please not with me” moments. We went to Skateland. We played the card game Speed. We shared our walkmans, head-to-head with the headset in between, some of the more fortunate kids having detachable ear pieces. It was fun to have ‘Eleanor & Park’ bring me back, as if touring with the Ghost of Christmas Past. ( And my final mixtape was recorded my senior year of high school, I still have it.)

Lastly, the heart of the story, Eleanor and Park, had me captivated from the start. Rainbow layers their relationship in a way that as they are slowly becoming friends, we too are slowly becoming friends with them as well. The Notice. The Touch. The Doubt. The Acceptance. The Confusion. The Love. The Intensity. Rainbow places the reader in the thick of it. I cared for the characters so deeply that at times I felt like I was watching their story through my fingers, not wanting either to get hurt; afraid of a tragic ending because I wanted my friends to have a happy one. Seeing life through Eleanor and Park is such a great reminder of the masks we all put on daily, the stories we decide to reveal to people everyday, the realization that probably the facades we see of others should be seen as exactly facades, and the importance of empathy.

If you are late to the party as well and have yet to read ‘Eleanor & Park’, it’s a must read. Thank you for reading this review. If you’ve read this book, please join me in the comments for a little discussion. I’d love to hear your thoughts and chat about your experience in reading this book. If this book is now on your TBR (to-be-read) list, please come back and chat with me in the comments when you’re ready.

Eleanor & Park
By Rainbow Rowell
Contemporary (although takes place in 1987), Young