Sitting and talking with Park is the one bright spot in Eleanor’s life because she’s having kind of a tough time of it. It’s no surprise that, because of her home life, her self-confidence is lacking. Eleanor wavers between joy at having Park in her life and disbelief that he could actually be interested in her. I really loved watching the slow and tender relationship develop between them as they learned more and more about each other. They both begin to look forward to the bus ride to and from school – the only time they get to spend together. Eleanor is convinced that a boy like Park couldn’t possibly be interested in her but is surprised when they move to the hand-holding stage. A Relationship Developsįrom this point, their relationship begins to develop slowly, with Park creating mixed tapes for Eleanor (remember mixed tapes?) and them slowing starting to talk to each other about comics and music. He begins slipping her comics without saying a word, with her always returning them the next day. The first part of the novel takes place on the bus, where she sits next to Park, a somewhat geeky boy who ’s half-Caucasian and half Korean.ĭays pass and they never talk to each other nor look at each other until one day Park notices that Eleanor is discretely reading his comics over his shoulder. She’s the school outcast and is bullied at school because she’s a big girl who wears very odd, patchwork outfits. Eleanor is the new girl at school with flaming red hair and clothes that, shall we say, are out of the norm. When Eleanor meets Park, you’ll remember your own first love-and just how hard it pulled you under.

Set over the course of one school year in 1986, this is the story of two star-crossed misfits-smart enough to know that first love almost never lasts, but brave and desperate enough to try. I saw this book at my local library while I was browsing and it caught my attention, as I’ve liked other books by Rainbow Rowell that I’ve read. She never looked nice.She looked like art, and art wasn’t supposed to look nice it was supposed to make you feel something.” ~ Park

Eleanor and park author