My SSR Book: Eleanor & Park

For SSR time in English class I’ve been reading a book called Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell.  In the past chapters I’ve read about two sixteen year old  teenagers named, Eleanor and Park. Eleanor just transferred high school and is now living with her mom, siblings and stepdad. She gets bullied in school and gets called “Big Red” because of her size and big curly red hair. Park on the other hand is “friends” with the bully named Steve. Park often gets picked on by Steve and is made fun of because he is Asian. They both meet on Eleanor’s first day of school when Park angrily screamed at Eleanor to sit next to him. From there on their love story begins, and as it does it faces a huge bump on the road.

As I read this young adult novel, I can see how these two completely different characters share various similar qualities. For example, Park has a very complex relationship with his father, where his father wants Park to me more “manly”. Now as for Eleanor, she also doesn’t have a very healthy relationship with her mom because of her step dad Richie is a barrier between them. They both also share similar likes in music and comic books, after all that’s one aspect of the commencement of their relationship. Besides having these similarities, they also have absolutely different lives. Eleanor lives in a small and cramped house where no one seems to care or notice her. As for Park he grew up in a stable family and house where he isn’t put aside like Eleanor.

So far as to where I am in the book I can connect so much to the characters. I might connect to them personally or to Ms. Lamay’s class. For instance, in a chapter Eleanor talks about how  Shakespeare is just mocking young love in Romeo and Juliet. This connects to Ms.Lamay’s class because we are currently disusing the subject about love and I agree with Eleanor’s explanation on Shakespeare’s work because love is often made fun of and this can be really confusing. I think this book in general makes me connect to her class because it talks about ups and downs a relationship can have, and often if whether or not there is a solution.