Eleanor and Park Stole My Heart

Every now and then a young adult book comes along that instantly transports us back to our own adolescence, for better or worse. It can be a painful or a beautiful journey (more often than not, a little of both), but it takes a talented author to do so effortlessly. In Eleanor & Park, Rainbow Rowell tells you a story of two misfits that will leave you forever changed. 

Since her mother brought Eleanor back to the house, she, and everyone else, has had to walk on eggshells. Their stepfather is not a nice man, and in particular, he hates Eleanor. In a house as tiny as theirs, it is all but impossible for her to escape him. Sharing a bedroom with her four siblings, worrying about whether or not they will have food each night, and listening to Richie beat her mother are just some of the reasons Eleanor has no interest in seeking friends in her new school. Never mind the fact that she dresses weird (in whatever her mother gets her from Goodwill), she isn't the skinniest girl, and her flaming red hair has a mind of its own. When she steps foot on the bus that first day, no one will let her sit down... until Park lets her sit with him. 

Park isn't a complete outcast, but he isn't popular by any means either. He tries very hard to keep his head down and blend into the background. When he sees Eleanor, he feels bad, but girls like her are who keep the vicious attention of his peers off his own faults. Taking more after his Korean mother, he has always been too gentle, too feminine, and not manly enough for his former soldier father. He doesn't intend to be anyone's hero, but he can't let Eleanor stand in the aisle of the bus and cry the way those beasts want her to. So he tells her to sit. And that changes everything. 

Eleanor and Park don't talk. He reads his comic books and she carefully tries to read them without letting him know she is peaking over his arm to see. He notices her reading the comics and starts turning the pages slower. Then he starts bringing her comics to borrow. All of this happens without a word shared between the two, but slowly, glacially, Park avoids Eleanor less and less. A few careful questions here, a kind gesture there, and the two find the human interaction they miss the most at the end of each day are the interactions they have together on those bus rides. But Eleanor has a lot to hide and is the target of many a malicious teen. And Park is very conscious of how her proximity affects his ability to camouflage himself from the other kids. Their backgrounds, self-consciousness, and situations should have prevented them from ever getting to know one another, but sometimes life's circumstances can't stop love from blossoming, no matter how hard it tries. 

There is something you should know before you read this book. It has been raved about by bloggers, reviewers, booksellers, and readers everywhere. They are right. John Green gave this clip for the New York Times Book Review: "Eleanor and 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."  He was right. Yalsa, Printz, and every other professional in the field loved this book. They were all right. If you are anything like me, you develop an immediate bias against a book when it receives instant and passionate acclaim. Why? I don't know. I guess the little rebel in us doesn't want to love what everyone loves. But that stupid generalization keeps us from books like Harry Potter, The Fault in Our Stars, and Eleanor & Park, so let's just stop this nonsense already, ok?! Because if we miss out on amazing books like this one, we are just silly little rebels who have lost out on a chance to read some seriously amazing books. 

Eleanor and Park was the saddest and most achingly romantic story I have read since The Fault in Our Stars. Eleanor is a girl who just needs life to cut her a break, but no one stands up for her. Until Park. And he doesn't do it willingly at first, but when he does, you know it goes against every ounce of self-preservation inside him. And it is that simple act of sticking his neck out for this girl that will make you love him unconditionally. Park isn't perfect. Even Eleanor knows she embarrasses him, but he wants to be a better person, and more importantly, he can't imagine life without Eleanor. I loved this boy. I really did. My heart broke for Eleanor, but I loved Park. And his life wasn't tulips and daisies either, but it couldn't compare to the war zone she lived in. 

I imagine some critics of this novel might find fault in the love between Eleanor and Park, but you have to think of the lack of love they have both lived with. Park can never be enough to satisfy his father. Eleanor's own mother left her with a neighbor for a year because Richie didn't want her in his house. For two damaged kids, finding that love was transformational, both for them and for you, as the reader. Rowell has the ability to make you love the main characters with a fierce protectiveness that will surprise you, and the ability to make you hate those who hurt them with a ferocity that makes you want to inflict bodily harm upon those fictional characters like Richie and the girls who bully Eleanor in school. 

This is a book that will steal the heart of any reader. Filled with fabulous 80's music references, comic book references, totally called-for foul language, and adolescence in all its ugly glory, it will change ever reader who turns that first page and can't put it down. There are some dark and dirty parts of this story that are hard to read, but they are just as important as the beautiful, innocent, guarded love that blossoms between Eleanor and park. This book is everything people say it is, and I know it will stand the test of time among readers. 

OCD, The Dude, and Me

There are books out there that make you laugh, that make you cry, and that do a little of both. But when you find a book that leaves you stunned and speechless, you stand up and take note. Lauren Roedy Vaughn's OCD, The Dude, and Me is a story like no other. 

Danielle doesn't make apologies for the way she is, but that doesn't mean her mother likes it. What's worse than being chunky, having unruly orange hair, and being a general outcast? How about Obsessive Compulsive Disorder to top it all off? When Danielle's English teacher encourages her to see the school counselor, Danielle is unhappy, to say the least. But at least in class, she can communicate through her favorite means- by writing. Her English teacher even advises the counselor to let Danielle conduct sessions through letters. She can't be all that bad, right? You would think, but then again, she seems to enjoy ripping apart Danielle's English papers, no matter how witty they are (or snarky). 

When everyone seems to conspire together to ruin her life, they decide to do so through a social skills class for other social rejects like Danielle. Even her parents are gung-ho for her attendance in this class. While Danielle inwardly wants to shrivel up and die before attending, her mother's thinly veiled threats to send her back to legit therapy keep her going. But something interesting happens. Danielle meets Daniel. An unlikely duo, as Daniel seems surly and sullen to Danielle's quirks, they find common ground in their relationships with the world. Both have wildly different reasons for how they relate to people, but the end result is fairly similar: outcast central. 

Oh I just loved this story. Danielle is the perfect blend of kooky, sassy, and snarky all rolled into one. And the best part of this story? For once, we have a really great blend of adults in the life of a student with a learning difference who support but don't shelter the main character. Too often we have overbearing parents who try to do everything for their child or protect them from the world, but that doesn't do anything to prepare them for the eventual time when they have to be independent. Or we get the oblivious, absentee parents who don't care the kind of pain their children are going through. In this book, it first seemed like the English teacher and Danielle's parents were too pushy or unforgiving, but really they were doing what was best for Danielle. It might not have been what Danielle wanted, per se, but it was what was best for her. From making her talk to the counselor, to the social skills class, to even forcing her to go on a class trip to England, everything they did was painful, but it actually helped Danielle. I liked that it took me a little while, especially since the story is told through Danielle's assignments and personal journal, to figure that out. Since she was not thrilled about these endeavors, it took her revelation that they had helped for the reader to have the same revelation. It really put the reader in Danielle's shoes in a marvelous and touching way. In addition, she has an aunt who is just fabulous. Seriously. Totally fabulous! We all need an aunt like this in our lives!

This story was so amazing it took me longer than usual to read because I felt like I had to digest every single word with care. It is so much more than meets the eye. My colleague and friend and co-blogger (if we can ever coax her back here!) left this book for me. I knew I would like it, but I wasn't prepared for just how much I would love it! Vaughn really captured the complexity and inner thoughts of her characters, and did so in a way that takes you through their lives alongside them. This is a book that will stay with you long after you have finished it, and just like Theresa, you will want to pass it onto someone you know will love it as much as you do!

A Chronicle of Post-Contaminated Life

In a world obsessed with appearance and weight, it isn't a stretch to imagine a diet drink that really worked would become an instant phenomenon. In Em Garner's Contaminated, we see the unexpected outcomes of this obsession, and it ain't pretty!

Velvet bears the burden of her parents' relationship with ThinPro, the diet water everyone was obsessed with. When people around the country started going crazy, destroying and murdering at will, uncontrollable rage, an inability to feel or understand pain, everyone immediately thought the zombie apocalypse had begun. Kill at will was the standard reaction as the Contaminated began to attack. What they didn't realize until later was that the Contaminated, or Connies, weren't zombies. They were victims of something like Mad Cow disease after ThinPro illegally and unethically changed the source of its protein to animal discards from butchers and factories. They couldn't keep up with the demand for their product and it is better to mislead the public than lose money, right?! Well, that decision was catastrophic as those who drank the liquid became Connies and ravaged the country. Even the President wasn't spared.

Now Velvet takes care of her little sister, Opal, and works to support them, and scours the Connie Kennels each week in search of her mother. Her mother turned later than her father, so Velvet hopes she was spared the fate he most likely succumbed to- a bullet to the head. Once they figured out the source of the Contamination, labs were able to devise collars that would keep the Connies calm and able to be taken home to their families. Unfortunately, most families weren't interested in a rabid family member, so they left them to be shipped back to the labs from where they never returned. But Velvet wasn't going to let that happen to her mother, and when she finally located her, she was determined to bring her home. Unfortunately, the world wasn't ready for the Connies to be back amongst them. Velvet encounters more problems than she expected, not only with taking care of her mother, but also from the people around her. Velvet isn't someone to give in easily, though, and even though two years ago she couldn't picture herself doing the things she must do now, Velvet will do anything to keep the remainder of her family together. Anything.

The cover of this book looks pretty fierce, right? I'll bet you expect some serious "zombie" blood and gore scenes thanks to that cover. And the author praise on the jacket? "Relentlessly horrifying... a bone-chilling, riveting debut," says Ann Aguirre (who knows horrifying, and did it beautifully in the Enclave series). "Absolutely unputdownable" from Jennifer Armentrout. This all leads you to think of an action-packed story full of attacks, evasion, and survival. Sadly, that isn't what you are going to get from this book. Now, don't get me wrong, the book wasn't bad, but I was so confused by the complete lack of "zombies" or at least some wild Connies, that I found myself turned off by a book I might otherwise have liked had I not been misled. I am completely baffled by the billing that this book could at all compare to Jonathan Maberry's Rot and Ruin or Charlie Higson's The Enemy or even Carrie Ryan's The Forest of Hands and Teeth (which was must less crazy than the first two, but still had some zombie action). Instead, this book was all about the reconstruction and how everyone is moving on with their lives. There was one attack and a few flashbacks of news stories or an attack or two, but they were only back story- nothing to lead the plot. Instead, this is a story of hardship, family, and love and devotion, which I love, don't get me wrong, but could have been better with a little more of the action I expected to find. In fact, I think my disappointment jaded my opinion of the book, and I struggled to finish it as a result. 

Had I known this was a reconstruction book, and not expected something "relentlessly horrifying", I would have probably really liked this book. In fact, I really loved Velvet's character. She was one tough cookie. Even when adults tried to push her around or take advantage of her, she wouldn't back down. She was only interested in taking care of her sister and her mother, even if it meant being evicted from their government assisted apartment and moving back to their previously quarantined and now empty (and dangerous) neighborhood. I really liked this girl. She not only had guts, she was totally unapologetic about it. I only wished I wasn't swirling in disappointment when I started this book so I could have focused more on the pretty good story hidden inside. One complaint is that the story just ENDS! No real conclusion, no wrap-up, just done. I wonder if Garner expects to write a sequel, because there was no closure here. So if you are going to give this to a student, be sure to take the book jacket off- maybe then they would enjoy it. But this won't catch the attention of those action-craving boys, so I think the target audience is a little narrow. 

From a Bully's Perspective

After finishing The Fault in Our Stars, I really needed to read something different. I had bought this book on a whim, at first scoffing at it, then intrigued by it. I was torn between being impressed by Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson writing about his early start as a playground bully and being annoyed by this ghost written story pumped out to make more money. Now that I have read Playground: A Mostly True Story of a Former Bully, I think I am more impressed than annoyed...


Butterball is a big guy. Junior High is rough enough for a kid, let alone a fat kid, so you have to be tough to make it through. When Maurice, Butterball's only real friend at school, starts telling people something truly horrible about Butterball's family, he does the only thing he can. He defends his honor. He bashes Maurice's face in with a sock filled with D batteries. Now Butterball has to go to a social worker twice a week and talk about his feelings- the last thing he wants to do.


Butterball and his mother moved out of the city to Garden City when his parents split up. He still goes to the city occasionally to see his father, but his dad is usually preoccupied by his latest girlfriend. Butterball's mom works constantly between her time at the hospital and college classes to become a nurse. Mostly he spends his time with Evelyn, his mom's friend who make gross vegetarian stews and rags on Butterball to behave himself. At school he has gotten a lot of attention, some good and some bad, for what he did to Maurice. Now a group of guys wants him to do it again to a guy Butterball has never met. But Butterball doesn't understand- this guy hasn't done anything to him, so why would Butterball bash his face in? 


I wouldn't say this was a great story, but it was one that has a good moral and is told form a different perspective than others of its kind. I like the fact that 50 Cent took the time (via a ghost writer) to get his story out there about his own bullying, why he did it, and how it affected him later. As an artist many kids look up to, it is great to put yourself out there and try to be a positive role model to them. I think it was important for him to stress that there was a reason behind Butterball's actions. While the reason doesn't condone the actions, it helps someone understand and address the situation properly.


I would probably keep this book around, even though there are better stories out there, because it would appeal to some kids where other books might not. They may pick it up and read it just because the author is someone they know and look up to. And to be honest, the moral of the story is pretty strong. Overall, not a bad book but definitely one that has a place on my shelves. But I'm not going to lie... still feel silly calling him 50 Cent (what a ridiculous name!).

Pause for This One

When you start a book, you generally get a feel for if you are going to like a character or not. With Elly, from Han Nolan's Pregnant Pause, I thought I knew her for the first 200 pages. And I wasn't so sure I liked her. By the end of the book, I loved this girl. I am pretty sure you will too.

Elly is pregnant. Elly is 16. Elly is a mess. Her boyfriend Lam is a stoner, just like she was before she got pregnant. But now Elly is pregnant, so she doesn't do that stuff anymore. Unfortunately, her missionary parents and Lam's Fat Camp running parents aren't so thrilled with the fact that she wants to have the baby. They decide to make Lam and Elly get married and when her parents return to Kenya, Elly will move in with Lam to the camp his parents run. They have to lie about her age, of course, but at least they'll be together.

The problem is Elly knows nothing about camp, about kids, or about being a wife. She also doesn't like Lam so much now that she's sober. When a counselor gets sick, Elly has to take over her classes and her cabin. She is annoyed by one girl who clearly thinks she is the princess of the group and simply doesn't know what to do with Banner, a girl who seems like everyone's doormat and is too scared of doing something wrong to do anything. Elly gives in to her fears and just tries to get the girls to have some fun. She is constantly under the scrutiny of her in-laws and her husband has been mysteriously absent most nights. Elly knows her life isn't perfect, but there is something about her baby that keeps her going on. But when tragedy strikes the camp and Elly's baby isn't quite what everyone expected, her fight to be a mother to her child consumes her life... even though everyone else tells her she would be the worst mother possible.

Elly started out a bratty, obnoxious kid. In fact, it annoyed me for a long time. I liked the story well enough, but she really ticked me off. Some of her observations and reactions were just so... so... childish! Then it hit me about 2/3 through the book- she was a child. A child having a child. It was terrifying. For me, the book was the perfect reason kids shouldn't have kids. Then I got to the end where her baby was born and no one wanted to help her. Here was this girl, abandoned by everyone and you know what she did? She refused to give in. She wasn't going to run away just because it was going to be tough. She wasn't going to take the easy way out. Elly was going to do what she believed was right. She was stubborn. She was bratty. She was a mother. An amazing mother. By the end of this story I absolutely loved this girl. My heart broke for her.

The tough part about this book, in retrospect, is the parents. Her parents are off doing what they want to do and have completely forgotten they have a child. They treat Elly as an inconvenience that ruined their plans. And Lam's parents are worse. They blame Elly for everything, and by extension, blame her for "putting Lam in this position". They are horrible. And when things get tough after the baby is born, everyone is ready to just forget a baby ever existed. I am not going to lie, I wanted to climb through this book and beat these people. But without their neglect, Elly's decisions wouldn't have been quite as powerful. Because of them, she became one of the strongest characters I have ever read about, even if I originally thought she was a brat!

This book would be appropriate for high school teens. It obviously deals with teen pregnancy and sex and drugs, but none are glorified or glamorized. It is a hard, raw story that doesn't hold anything back. It will leave you questioning your own judgments by the end of the story. I didn't think I was going to like Elly for the majority of this book, but by the end, I was rooting for her all the way.

A Witness to Bullying

Bullying seems to be seeping into my world more and more lately. From the conference, to the last few YA books I have read, it seems to be everywhere. Sadly. So how do you make each book unique and special? Because you make it real. Catherine Ryan Hyde made Diary of a Witness as real as you could get with the lives of two young men who continue to suffer at the hands of their bullies even after they suffer and inconceivable tragedy.

Ernie and Will are friends, but they are each other's only real friend. Both are targets. Ernie is bullied because he is overweight and his mom is even more overweight and his father split long ago. Will is bullied because he is strange and has acne and his mother left with another man, leaving him, his little brother Sam, and his father to fend for themselves. Both boys like fishing, which is also a source of mockery amongst the popular guys at school. One day Will convinces Ernie to go fishing in the ocean with him and Sam. In a freak accident, the boat is sunk and Sam never surfaces.

After Sam's death, you would think the bullies would lay off Will for a while, but they do something worse. They use his brother's death as fodder for the torment. In fact, they beat Will down so much, he tries to kill himself. Ernie calls the ambulance and saves Will, but even this doesn't stop the bullies. Ernie and Will go to Ernie's uncle's house for Christmas vacation and they almost feel normal. When they come back to school, though, it is as if Will just can't take it anymore. He talks about hurting the bullies so much that it makes Ernie nervous. When the bullies attack Ernie and Will one final time, it seems as though Will has been driven to do the unthinkable. But can Ernie stop Will before he does something he can never take back? Should he care if the people who tormented him for years are going to get hurt?

This book is told from the perspective of both a witness and a victim. Ernie tells the story, but he is still a victim himself. The narration gives the reader an interesting take on how the bullying dynamic can affect children. An interesting aspect is when the bullies accidentally take it too far. One time, they tripped Ernie and he tripped too far, falling down the stairs. He was barely conscious, but he could hear the boys were scared- they meant to trip him, but not throw him down the stairs. Of course, their concern is for how much trouble they are going to be in, not Ernie's welfare. It shows how almost a frenzy is created when these things get going, bringing people to levels they would never reach independently. This is a scary examination into the world of bullied teens.

The story is short, only 200 pgs, and is appropriate for all ages, high powered elementary students through low-skilled high school students. The subject matter is tough, but so is school for kids of all ages. If a kid is able to read this book, then they have surely been involved in bullying somehow, as a bully, a victim, or a witness. To see the extreme of consequences bullying can reach is an important lesson to learn. This book is versatile enough reach so many kids, it becomes a great asset to any classroom or library.

Required Reading for Educators and Parents

YA is a genre designed to give adolescents what they really want to read- book about similar situations and problems they experience every day, or books with characters they can relate to. When writing books for this genre, some authors manage to capture a terrifying part of adolescence all adults wished didn't exist. This happened in Wintergirls, where the story of a girl suffering from an eating disorder was so real and painful, you hurt with her. Julie Ann Peters is an author who doesn't hold anything back, despite the opinions of some that adolescents should be sheltered from such stories. In By the Time You Read This, I'll Be Dead, Peters delivers a cold, hard smack to the face where teen bullying, depression, and suicide are concerned.

Daelyn has been bullied her whole life- first for being overweight, and now for the neck brace she must wear after one of her multiple attempts to commit suicide and her inability to talk. Her parents don't understand her actions, her teachers are often part of the problem, and she has never had any friends. In fact, any time Daelyn let her guard down enough to try making friends, it has backfired in her face as some clever ruse to humiliate her once again. She goes through the daily motions, but doesn't trust anyone, including her helicopter parents who watch her every move anticipating another suicide attempt.

Then one day, as Daelyn is waiting for her mother to pick her up, she meets a persistent young man who lives and is home-schooled next to her school. She tries to ignore Santana, scare him away, and escape him in any way, but he just keeps coming back. Daelyn knows this must be a way for him to either hurt her or humiliate her, but something about Santana makes her crack the rare smile she has kept hidden for years. What Santana doesn't know, however, is that Daelyn intends one last and final suicide attempt, and this time she has enlisted the support and ideas of a website called Through the Light that helps people commit suicide. She has arranged the date of her final attempt and is now just waiting for the days to count down until she can end her torment once and for all. But can Santana give her something to look forward to? Can that be enough to stop her from taking her own life?

Like Wintergirls, By the Time You Read This is a book that should be given carefully to young adults who are mature enough to digest such heavy material, but should be required reading for parents and educators. We all remembered the bullying that took place when we were young, but do we understand its true magnitude and impact? How do we stop such bullying? How can we know it is happening? At one point in the story, Daelyn is lured into the boy's bathroom and sexually assaulted. The boys spread a rumor she was hiding in there to watch them and she is brought to the principal's office. When she tries to defend herself, she can't manage to tell the school administrators or her parents what really happened, leaving the adults thinking she is just being melodramatic about a silly prank.

This book made me terrified of the ignorance adults have towards the monster bullying has become. We can attend conferences, discuss with other adults ways to stop the bullying or teach students it is wrong, but does it work? Isn't the bullying now worse than it has ever been? How do we really attack it and protect our children from such dire circumstances that they would attempt to take their own lives? I hope books such as this one, while fiction, are an eye-opening smack in the face to all adults about just how dangerous adolescence can be.