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Eleanor & Park  By  cover art

Eleanor & Park

By: Rainbow Rowell
Narrated by: Rebecca Lowman,Sunil Malhotra
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Publisher's summary

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.

©2013 Rainbow Rowell (P)2013 Listening Library

Featured Article: 20+ Creative Quotes About Art to Leave You Inspired


Art is as much a part of human nature as breathing. Since the dawn of time, humans have taken to creating in various forms and schools, with all manner of reception. Whether beloved or highly critiqued, art is a fixture of culture and what it means to be alive. To inspire your creativity, we’ve compiled a list of the best quotes about art. From painting to dance, art has been enriching the world for centuries. Get inspired to share your passion with some amazing quotes.

What listeners say about Eleanor & Park

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

E + P 4-ever!

Finally, after wading through lots of simple, boring teen books, this little gem arrives. Without my Entertainment Weekly Bible, I wouldn't have discovered this fantastic teen love story, coming to a movie screen soon near you.

Eleanor is back with her Mom, step-Dad and four siblings in a miserable household attending a new school in 1986, finding an unlikely friend in Park. Both points of view shine light on the loneliness, isolation, bullying, and the dare to hope and connect in the world of teenage angst. When Eleanor thinks she's fat, Park describes her as beautiful. Couldn't wait to hear what the other had to say about the same situation.

This book is well-written, almost like Rowell popped the top on the teen brain with all the first, raw emotions spilling out into a funny, lugubrious, intense singular story line with the perfect ending. Just bought his newer book, "Fangirl" and am excited to see Rebecca Lowman is narrating as well. She and Sunil Malhotra were fantastic in "Eleanor and Park". This was an excellent read.

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102 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Good Book - Horrible Ending

I actually went to Barnes and Noble to look at the actual ending of this book to make sure there wasn't something wrong with audible download. Towards the end everything fell apart...large gaping holes in the story line and lots of questions unanswered and not in a good way. I loved everything about all of the characters and was so interested in what happened to them and it never pays off. The author goes right up to the edge of the cliff but never jumps off....ugh so frustrating.

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44 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
  • GH
  • 04-14-14

Pure Heartstrings -- A Great Story

This novel's plot was not what I was expecting -- but tuned out to be more than I could have hoped for. It is a fresh story, with a steady plot-line that you won't guess. There is something in this story for everyone. Rowell manages to tell this teen story without resorting to over dramatic devices. There is plenty of tension and conflict and the story raises as many why's as it offers answers. This book appeals to folks of all ages. It helps you remember first love, so it does appeal to the romantics in all of us.

The story is told both form Eleanor's and Parks perspectives in alternating points of view which enhances the story. Often, this device can be distracting; but not in this novel. There are many nerves that get jangled as the story unfolds. I highly recommend you read this wonderful story.

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27 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

I'll Never Forget This Story- Ever

Eleanor is a poor high school girl. Her mother lives with a scum bag and mom puts the creep first. After all, he puts 'food on the table.' The idiot makes life hell for Eleanor and her younger siblings, to the point where Eleanor was kicked out and homeless for some time.

Eleanor has unruly red hair and dresses in strange, not conforming clothing from the Salvation Army. She meets Park, a good looking boy in high school who takes a liking to her. She can barely believe it, but the two of them have a very strong, special relationship and Eleanor finds herself falling in love.

The relationship is on shaky grounds because of Eleanor's familial situation, and she worries about the future and what will happen. Park defends Eleanor to the point of getting his face fractured when someone (everyone does it) makes fun of her.

Throughout the trials of their lives, Eleanor and Park have a most special relationship and it's told with a beautiful narrative voice. This novel will stick the listener forever- I will never forget it's poise, beauty, and prose.

5 stars- brava Rainbow Rowell!

-Wendi

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25 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Beautiful!

This book has terrible language! So if that is something that bothers you, you should skip this one. It starts out with Park seeing a girl with red hair and wondering if it's Eleanor. After finishing the book I'm glad the author put that part in because it hints that it might not end the way I wanted it to. I like how we get to see things from both Eleanor & Park's point of view. Both narraters did a great job. Park is such an amazing character! These two end up falling hard for eachother, but the love story that really got to me was the love between Park's mom and dad and in turn their love for Park. I feel like they really tried to accept Park's choices even if they didn't really understand them. I loved this book! And while it doesn't end exactly the way I wanted, I found the ending hopeful.

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24 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Narrators were perfect

I've never been much of a romantic - more like an emotional porcupine - but I can appreciate a good love story. This didn't strike me as a good one. I never got it. I never understood how it went from sharing comic books and music to this obsessive NEED for each other. The friendship I got. The romance? Not so much. I did like how the author showed the wide difference between how Eleanor saw herself and how Park saw her. I also liked how the story of Eleanor's past was revealed in bits and pieces. It lent to its impact, because the author makes you really like Eleanor and want all the best for her, and then you find out the injustices of her past and it's just that much more maddening. Then there was Park. He is a sweet guy but struggles with his own pettiness. That's part of why I didn't understand the romance part- he's a regular kid worried about what others think. He's definitely a great role model for young people, with his willingness to stick up for the bullied, and in a mean school environment, that's no small achievement of character. But beyond those few plusses, I didn't find the story to be compelling or even particularly interesting. Narrators for both Eleanor and Park were perfect.

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22 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Best Such Book Since Fault in Our Stars

Warning: you are going to want to read this from cover to cover. What a profound young love story, which raises so many great questions. Why do we read Romeo and Juliet? Is young love, against all the odds, always doomed? Who / what are the Montagues and Capalets of today (or even if the 80s in this book)? Why do opposites attract? Do you have to conform to society's rules? What would you do for love? What would you do for survival?

Eleanor is chubby and has red hair. Lots of red hair. Enough so that she is quickly dubbed Big Red at her new highschool. Eleanor's dad is selfish and absentee. Her mom's husband is scary and abusive, and so mom can't / doesn't help Eleanor, even with such simple needs as clothing or toothbrushes. Eleanor isn't "nice" -life hasn't given her that chance- but there is something about her - like the way she was able to read that poem in English her first day. She is smart and unique, and beautiful just as she is.

Park couldn't be more opposite. His parents are actually still in love, and though they have their moments, they love him and are supportive and somehow pretty wise. Park is cool and even exotic looking, taking after his Korean mother. Park is into music and constantly makes tapes of his favorite songs to listen to, while reading his comic magazines.

Park has a whole seat on the bus and, not without regret, is the only one who allows Eleanor to sit. Soon he realizes that she is reading his comics with him.

Now, see, you do want to know what happens next.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Maybe I'm the misfit in this story

Oh, my – how do I begin? Well, first, let me say that I haven’t read a YA book in a while. I’m climbing the bookish equivalent of Mount Everest this year – aka making my way through the A Song of Ice and Fire series by George R. R. Martin and it is brutal. So maybe I went into this book not sure what to expect? I don’t know what happened. I had hopes of romance and swooning and first love a la Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins, but that’s not what I got. Instead I got this amazing boy whom I adored and a girl that annoyed me.

The description says that you’ll remember your own first love, and while it did have moments that reminded me of what it’s like to fall in love for the first time, I just couldn’t connect with Eleanor. Was she in a bad situation? Yes, but in times like those, you either let it make you or break and I feel like she let it break her. Again, yes, she’s 16 and “helpless” but all I’m saying is that 16 is old enough to call the police and not give a second thought to “Oh, is my mom going to be mad that I’m doing something that she as 40 something year old can’t?”

The saving grace for me in this book is Park – not only the character but his POV (the book is alternating POVs). Without Park, this book would have probably been a Did Not Finish. Park – my sweet, sweet boy – WHY do you even like Eleanor? She pushes you away, is an emotional rollercoaster and disaster, and has got to be the most self-deprecating character I’ve read in a while – she puts Edward Cullen from Twilight to shame.

And speaking of favorite characters, I’ve got to say my overall favorite character (and the one I think is most like me) was Park’s mom. She’s an Avon lady who loves makeup, nails, and hair – AND she always wants to make other people over.

I will say that I really enjoyed Rainbow Rowell’s writing style and I’m reading her next book, Fangirl, right now and absolutely loving it. So it’s just this particular book that didn’t do it for me. Also, the narrator for Eleanor on the audiobook was not the best so that probably played into things a bit.

I put this book on my Everyone Loved But Me shelf as there are no less than TWENTY 5 star reviews from my friends on GoodReads. Maybe I’m the misfit in this story.

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  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars
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What?!

I listened to about 5 minutes of this book. I could not believe how much profanity! I would never let my young teen listen to this book..... ever.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Hanging on every lyric, and every word.

I loved this book. Such real characters, a realistic yet frightening thread weaving the plot together at the seam, a legitimate love story (involving high schoolers, who knew.) it was another "Perks of a Being a Wallflower" for me in that had that coming-of-age feel with the dark under note that I kept thinking I knew the history and the stakes but that made me feel it all the more when 'mostly' everything was reveled (because honestly, in real life, no one really knows what's going on with a person right in front of us unless they say the words.)

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