Eleanor & Park: A Novel

by Rainbow Rowell

Overview

Rainbow Rowell's timeless #1 New York Times Bestseller, now in paperback for the very first time.

Bono met his wife in high school, Park says.
So did Jerry Lee Lewis, Eleanor answers.
I'm not kidding, he says.
You should be, she says, we're 16.
What about Romeo and Juliet?
Shallow, confused, then dead.
I love you, Park says.
Wherefore art thou, Eleanor answers.
I'm not kidding, he says.
You should be.

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. When Eleanor meets Park, you'll remember your own first love—and just how hard it pulled you under.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781250356406
Publisher:	St. Martin's Publishing Group
Publication date:	10/01/2024
Pages:	336
Sales rank:	231,615
Product dimensions:	5.38(w) x 8.25(h) x 1.00(d)
Age Range:	13 - 18 Years

About the Author

Rainbow Rowell is the award-winning #1 New York Times bestselling author of Eleanor & Park and the Simon Snow Trilogy, plus several other novels, short stories, and comics. She lives in Omaha, Nebraska, just like most of her characters.

Reading Group Guide

Eleanor says she and Park are too young for true love. Do you believe that? Do you think Eleanor believes that?

How do Eleanor and Park's parents shape their outlook on relationships and the future?

Is Eleanor's mother a good mother? Why does she stay with Richie?

Why does Park's mother change her mind about Eleanor?

How is Park's relationship with his mother different from his relationship with his father? Who sees Park more clearly, his father or his mother? Why is Park embarrassed by Eleanor? Is his embarrassment a betrayal?

Steve says that he's Park's friend — is he a true friend? Are Steve and Tina good guys or bad guys in the story? Do you think Eleanor and Tina could ever be friends?

How would Eleanor and Park's relationship be different in 2013? How would cell phones, digital music, and Internet access change their situation?

What is the importance of music in Park's life? And how is it different for Eleanor?

Was Eleanor right to run away?

Should she have left her brothers and sister behind? Was there more she could have done to help them?

Why doesn't Eleanor open Park's letters?

What do you think the postcard from Eleanor says? What do you think it means that she sent it?

Do you think that Eleanor and Park have a happy ending?

Editorial Reviews

A #1 New York Times Best Seller!
A Michael L. Printz Honor Book
A New York Times Notable Book
Winner of the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award for Fiction
Winner of the Goodreads Choice Award for Best Young Adult Book
Winner of the Indies Choice, Young Adult Book of the Year
Amazon's Best Teen and Young Adult Book of the Year
A Publishers Weekly Best Children's Book of the Year
A Kirkus Reviews Best Teen Book of the Year
An NPR Best Book of the Year

“Funny, hopeful, foulmouthed, sexy, and tear-jerking, this winning romance will captivate teen and adult readers alike.” —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

“Rowell keeps things surprising, and the solution maintains the novel's delicate balance of light and dark.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“The pure, fear-laced, yet steadily maturing relationship Eleanor and Park develop is urgent and breathtaking and, of course, heartbreaking, too.” —Booklist (starred review)

“An honest, heart-wrenching portrayal of imperfect but unforgettable love.” —The Horn Book (winner of The Horn Book Award for fiction)

"Rowell’s humor, tenderness, and sense of detail are extraordinary." —Curtis Sittenfeld for The New Yorker

“Eleanor & Park is a breathless, achingly good read about love and outsiders.” —Stephanie Perkins, New York Times bestselling author of Anna and the French Kiss and Lola and the Boy Next Door

“Sweet, gritty, and affecting . . . Rainbow Rowell has written an unforgettable story about two misfits in love. This debut will find its way into your heart and stay there.” —Courtney Summers, author of This Is Not a Test and Cracked Up to Be

“In her rare and surprising exploration of young misfit love, Rowell shows us the beauty in the broken.” —Stewart Lewis, author of You Have Seven Messages

“Eleanor & Park reminded me not just what it's like to be young and in love with a girl, but also what it's like to be young and in love with a book.” —John Green, The New York Times Book Review

“Rowell's writing swings from profane to profound, but it's always real and always raw.” —Petra Mayer for NPR Books

From the Publisher

Two narrators tell the nuanced story of an unlikely first love. The actors excel at differentiating the multiple shifting viewpoints within each chapter of the story. More importantly, they give full voice to the inner feelings and outer expressions of Eleanor and Park and the interplay that depicts their tender relationship. Sunil Malhotra’s neutral conversational tones portray the stability and comfort Park gives Eleanor, a young woman who is tormented by her mercurial stepfather. Malhotra shows Park’s internal swings from self-deprecation at his awkwardness to the heightened emotions of his extreme feelings. Rebecca Lowman portrays the defiant, witty comments that belie Eleanor’s fears. In particular, Lowman expresses Eleanor’s longing for a safe haven and her determined resilience. The poignant story ends on an emotional crescendo. S.W. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award, 2014 Audies Finalist © AudioFile 2013, Portland, Maine

APRIL 2013 - AudioFile

Two narrators tell the nuanced story of an unlikely first love. The actors excel at differentiating the multiple shifting viewpoints within each chapter of the story. More importantly, they give full voice to the inner feelings and outer expressions of Eleanor and Park and the interplay that depicts their tender relationship. Sunil Malhotra’s neutral conversational tones portray the stability and comfort Park gives Eleanor, a young woman who is tormented by her mercurial stepfather. Malhotra shows Park’s internal swings from self-deprecation at his awkwardness to the heightened emotions of his extreme feelings. Rebecca Lowman portrays the defiant, witty comments that belie Eleanor’s fears. In particular, Lowman expresses Eleanor’s longing for a safe haven and her determined resilience. The poignant story ends on an emotional crescendo. S.W. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award, 2014 Audies Finalist © AudioFile 2013, Portland, Maine

APRIL 2013 - AudioFile