It was a tough decision. But, I ultimately decided to choose this book because I always like love stories the most. My book is in the romance genre. The author also wrote "carry on," which is another romance book with more aspects of mystery and fantasy. This book is a modern read but has not been made into a movie. So far, I'm not so sure how I feel about it. Here is a quick summary of what I have read so far. Eleanor is a girl with an abstract personality, struggling to fit in at a new school. Park is a boy who goes there that's trying to lay low and stay out of the way of bullies. They end up sitting next to each other on the bus despite neither one really wanting too. They haven't talked yet, however I'm sure they will shortly.

Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell is a romance novel about two kids falling in love for the first time. Both of them aren't “normal” kids, as Eleanor wears abnormal outfits like mens ties and adds fish hooks to her hair, and Park is the only Asian kid in their town, so he stands out as well. They struggle to find their way into each other's hearts and this book is about their love story.

A

The main character Eleanor is very comfortable with her identity. Although she often thinks about her weight she is otherwise content with who she is. She doesnt change how she dresses even when it's made fun of and doesn't bother defending herself when she's taunted on the bus (not that these comments don't get to her, they do, she just doesnt let them see their effect on her.) She even goes as far as stopping Park from defending her by saying “‘if this is for me’ she said, as fiercely as she could, ‘then listen to me. I don't want this.’” (page 131) To dramatize this scene the author makes it choctic, by adding the actions of everyone in the scene, how students chanted “fight fight fight,” and teachers were running, along with bus drivers and Tina's actions. It almost feels overwhelming to read this section of the book,  making it easy for the reader to visualize how Eleanor would have felt in the moment. This is a problem for Eleanor and Park throughout the book as he continues to defend Eleanor when she doesn't want it. It's obvious not only to readers, but to Eleanor that he's embarrassed by her and is more so trying to defend himself. Park, on the other hand, does have an identity crisis. He has to learn to not care about others' opinions as much as he has before, but he struggles to get past what people will think when he introduces eleanor. On page 121 his thoughts are shared, “now that he was actually introducing Eleanor to his mom, he couldn't help but see Eleanor the way his mom was going to.” He can't seem to let go of what other people will think of her, and then in turn think about him. I think through the story as he gets more comfortable with himself, and falls more for Eleanor, this slowly becomes resolved.

C

I relate to these characters because I'm still in highschool, and also still trying to figure out love. I think that adults like to poke at high school relationships and how they aren't really “real”, but I think that they are arguably the most important romantic relationship you'll ever have. Just like in Eleanor and Park, you learn to love through your first love in high school and it teaches you how to be with someone in that way. I connect to this because it's what I'm doing currently. I've had a boyfriend almost the last two years and Eleanor and Parks' relationship reflects ours in a way that it reflects every high school relationship ever. It's two kids having their first love and hoping they'll make it through the ups and downs that come with learning about it.