Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell
Like many teenagers, Park is trying to fly under the radar. Neither cool enough to be popular, or uncool enough to be excluded, he aims for near invisibility. Eleanor has no choice. Her family situation and genetic make up has made it so she will always stand out as a target for bullying. In a fit of kindness, Park lets Eleanor sit next to him on the bus and a strange connection between the two begins. Drawn together by a love of comics and music, Park and Eleanor soon discover their feelings and chemistry are greater than they ever would have expected.
An unusual high school love story, Eleanor & Park is a great choice for anyone who’s looking for romantic stories where the hero and heroine aren’t the perfect Barbie and Ken type. These are interesting people with complex backgrounds and whose attractive qualities defy the stereotypical mold. Plus (and rather importantly), Eleanor is a larger girl whose physical appearance is unattractive to many, but who does not need to undergo any type of makeover to transformation to be attractive to the boy she likes. This is a rare and unusual thing.
I rated this as Mature Teen because it does not gloss over any of the truly difficult and horrible things that can be part of life for a high school student. While there is no actual sex, the scenes depicting intimacy are, well, intimate. But the main reasons for the rating are the language (which is colorful to say the least) and the difficult nature of Eleanor’s home life. There are implications throughout regarding her stepfather which come to a head near the close of the book. Also, note that while I included some harassing language and situations in the “sex” category below, they are also a form of violence, and would have fit in just as well in that category. But most importantly, I think it’s really important to be aware the Eleanor’s stepfather’s behavior would constitute sexual abuse. It is not simply bullying or harassment because of who he is. It does not matter whether or not he ever laid hands on her in a sexual manner. What he does is enough. Girls (and boys) who read this book should know that. They should know that what he does is not only gross but illegal. As in, there are laws that say it is not okay for this to happen. And that those laws are made as a form of protection for anyone who does find themselves in this situation.
Racism – Park is expected to know about karate because his mom is Asian. Some people think she’s Chinese; another boy says he always thought she was Mexican. A guy tells Park that a girl has “jungle fever” for him. Park explains that’s not even the correct kind of racism. When Park lends Eleanor comics and they are in pristine condition she thinks “stupid, perfect Asian kid.” Eleanor learned to use the term Asian as opposed to Oriental while at her last school. She used to call an Asian boy “La Choy Boy.” The “cool” kids at this school frequently use “the N-word” to refer to blacks. Eleanor wonders if the shape of Park’s eyes affects how he sees things.
Sex, Nudity, Dating – There are a few jokes about getting a girl pregnant. A girl calls Eleanor “raghead” because it looks like her whole head is “on the rag.” Park’s parents have “make-out sessions” each night when his father gets home. Eleanor and her siblings hear her mother’s bedsprings when she’s in the bedroom with Richie. People like each other. Guys talk about which girls they want to date. Eleanor jokes that she can’t do anything too strenuous in gym because it might rupture her hymen. Richie calls Eleanor a “bitch in heat.” There is hand-holding. There is a fair amount of kissing throughout, including with tongue.During an unimpressive kissing session Park wondered if he might be gay. In wondering if a girl was okay with him holding her hand, a boy wonders if it is possible to “rape somebody’s hand.” In a harassing way, a boy has written “do I make you wet” “pop that cherry,” “i know your(sic) a slut you smell like cum,” and “suck me off” on a girl’s book. A girl says she wants to have a boy’s babies. A man has an ashtray shaped like a naked woman. A guy comments that a girl has big tits. People fall in love. People assumed that Park’s mother was pregnant when his parents got married. Eleanor’s mother got pregnant as a teenager. There’s mention of girly magazines and picturing girls without their clothes. There are few very long make-out sessions that involve touching and partial removal of clothes. It’s a bit unclear how far they go until after the fact. A teenage girl is pregnant.
Profanity – “morons,” “fucking” is used at least 7 times in the first 2 pages. I feel like I shouldn’t even have to bother recording the rest of the profanity, because if that bothers you, how much better can it get? “shit,” ” fuck,” “dicklick,” “retarded,” “bastard,” “Bozo,” “God,” “Jesus-fuck,” “suck,” hell,” “pussy,” “crappy,” “fucked up,” “the N-word” written that way, not fully spelled out, “motherfucker,” “bitch,” “effing,” “damn,” “pissing/pissed,” “Goddamn,” “hellspawn,” “ass,” “chink,” “fag,” “c-u-n-t,” “hore” (sic), “dick,”
Death, Violence and Gore – A guy punches someone and breaks his own finger. Eleanor’s mother has bruises. Eleanor and her siblings wish Richie would die and name scenarios where he might die (such as getting run over, etc.) Park threatens to kill his brother (he’s very angry, but this is not a legitimate death threat or anything). Two boys fight, there is a lot of blood. Park’s uncle died in Vietnam. There are gunshots at Eleanor’s house. There’s a reference to Ozzy Osbourne biting the head off a bat. Eleanor throws a book at her brother.
Drugs, Alcohol and Smoking – A girl is holding a cigarette. Wine is mentioned in a quote from an Emily Dickinson poem. Richie smokes cigarettes. Richie is rarely sober. Eleanor’s father smoked(smokes?) marijuana. He also smokes cigarettes and drinks Scotch. Several adults drink and drive. Some teenagers drink beer and smoke a joint. Two teenagers elope.
Frightening or Intense Things – Eleanor has a difficult home life. Her mother’s husband kicked her out of the house at one point. She and her siblings huddle in fear when her mother and her stepfather fight. At one point she would have tried to stop it or call 911 but now she knows better. At school there is fairly significant bullying.
