Eleanor &Park

 

Rowell, R. (2013). Eleanor & Park. NY: St Martin's Griffin.

Eleanor and Park became the most unlikely of friends while being partnered up on the bus.  They discover that they both have similar interests and bond over comic books and music.  Eleanor has beautiful red hair while Park is a biracial boy of Korean and white parentage.  Park has feelings of inadequacy as he is not athletic and feels his father disapproves of him. 

 

Eleanor is struggling at home to build a family with her mother and new stepfather.  Eleanor begins to receive notes on her school work and finds them to be unsettling.  Eleanor and Park are both experiencing some type of teasing or bullying and feel that they can only depend on each other.  Eleanor soon discovers that the notes are coming from her stepfather and asks Park to help her.  Park takes Eleanor to live with her aunt and uncle and waits for some kind of correspondence from her.  She finally responds in the form of a postcard.  Park gets some form of hope.

 

 This story deals with several adult themes and Havighurst’s Developmental Tasks sees changes in personal relationships as well as relationships with parents.  Suggested readings include The perks of being a wallflower and Looking for Alaska.