Eleanor and Park is a YA Lit book centering around the relationship between two teens, Eleanor and Park. The author essentially throws us into a scenario where we are clearly able to see the social status of each of these two characters. At first, Park is annoyed by Eleanor and thinks of her they way that everybody else does, as essentially a large loser. The development of Park is a major proponent of the book. Even after being exuberant over being able to hold Eleanor's hand, Park still denies that she is his girlfriend when confronted by Tina in proximity to his mother. This is a key part of the story because Eleanor is smart and is able to pick up the fact that Park seems to be at least somewhat embarrassed by her.
Throughout the novel, we are confronted by characters that are more complex than their surfaces appear. At least in regards to Park and Eleanor. I believe the author wanted to highlight the fact that people should be judged by their character, not by their looks, which is why the character of Eleanor is so important -- she is the character that forces the reader to critically think about actions they have taken against people similar to Eleanor -- people that are a bit...different.
As far as plot is concerned, there is not really much going on. We know that the home life of Eleanor is very bad because of her abusive step-father (or surrogate father), and my best guess is that this is going to end up being a major part of the plot. I believe that something bad will happen because of Richie and then Park will be left to fix whatever problems that Richie creates.
I really would have loved to see more plot develop besides just the relationship between Eleanor and Park. There seems to be no major plot in the story that is constant throughout. In this way, I suppose that the book reflects life in that it is simply happening, there isn't necessarily some grand plot to be had. I also wish that Eleanor would have been a stronger character. Don't get me wrong, she has plenty she is dealing with and she is strong for being resilient enough to deal with her home situation, but it seems like her character's worth is entirely dependent on Park. Eleanor thinks very lowly of herself and Park gives her confidence, treating her better than any other boy ever has. Because of this however, Eleanor is more of a static character, unable to be the agent in her own development. I do not like the way the character is dependent on another for growth, and thought that there should have been more moments of Eleanor sticking up for herself instead of letting people harass her or have Park defend her (which she would rather have him not defend her in order to cause the least amount of trouble). I think it is damaging to have Eleanor so dependent on a male character especially, feeding into the stereotypical notion that women need a man in order to thrive.
That being said, the author does an absolutely stunning job of describing the relationship between these two characters. Young adults would find this novel interesting because of the interesting character development and because it focuses on relationships and home problems -- highlighting the fact that the two often go hand in hand.
Overall, I would give the book a B so far. Mostly taking away points because I feel Eleanor could have been such a stronger character by herself and I don't like the fact that the author at least so far hasn't given her character that opportunity and instead drives her further into a relationship with Park to deal with her issues. The author also writes about love in a way that is truly awe inspiring. There were many moments throughout the text where I just had to absorb what was written to truly appreciate the effect of the writing.
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