Eleanor and Park By: Rainbow Rowell (Part 4)

Of all the books on the list, I chose this one because, first of all, I already owned this one, and second of all, it's an amazing book. It's the kind of book that is so realistic it hurts, and yet, so beautifully written in its own captivating way that it takes you by surprise. I think a lot of times when people say books take us to another place they always assume that other place is always going to be a place where everything is okay, but this book doesn't sugar-coat the realities in life and that's why it really drew my attention and quickly drew me in. After reading this novel, I did make a few personal connections, one to the way Eleanor dresses, “Eleanor was right. She never looked nice. She looked like art, and art wasn't supposed to look nice; it was supposed to make you feel something.”-Rainbow Rowell, Eleanor and Park. This quote shows that Eleanor didn't dress like everyone else and I can relate to that in some ways because I would rather be looked at as dressing to look like art, and bringing out some emotion in people, than dressing to fit in. Also, the way Eleanor lives for Park, is relatable because I think we all having something or someone that we learn to live for and so that's also a relatable aspect of the book. I enjoyed this book very much and would recommend it to anyone who would want to read a book that was more realistic to the way teenage romances and everyday lives can be. This is for people who enjoy books that are more raw and real than a fairytale type book.

Eleanor and Park By: Rainbow Rowell (Part 3)

My quote from Eleanor and Park is: “I don't like you, Park," she said, sounding for a second like she actually meant it. "I..." - her voice nearly disappeared - "think I live for you."
He closed his eyes and pressed his head back into his pillow.
"I don't think I even breathe when we're not together," she whispered. "Which means, when I see you on Monday morning, it's been like sixty hours since I've taken a breath. That's probably why I'm so crabby, and why I snap at you. All I do when we're apart is think about you, and all I do when we're together is panic. Because every second feels so important. And because I'm so out of control, I can't help myself. I'm not even mine anymore, I'm yours, and what if you decide that you don't want me? How could you want me like I want you?"
He was quiet. He wanted everything she'd just said to be the last thing he heard. He wanted to fall asleep with 'I want you' in his ears.”   -Rainbow Rowell, Eleanor and Park


I picked this quote because it shows how Eleanor truly feels about Park and how Park loves her too. How they survive on one another and have a love that is deeper and more accepting than some people will ever have. This quote shows how sometimes words can be more intimate than a physical gesture might ever be and that's why I picked this quote, it's the kind that makes you think. Not just about the book, but about your life too, your love, what gives you the feeling that Park gives Eleanor.

Eleanor and Park By: Rainbow Rowell (Part 2)

In this story, the book is structured with different perspectives. The perspectives being Eleanor's and Park's. Some chapters have both, and some just have one and it's a very interesting way to write, I think. The characters are getting more complex. You are learning more about why Eleanor is so different. Why her clothes are so different (and more manly) then the other girls, why she has a shy but tough exterior and why she is so insecure about everything. You also learn why to Park, the little things Eleanor does can be so cute, why she can also be so aggravating. Park comes from a middle-class family where his mom expects all girls to be sugar, spice, and everything nice. Yet, Eleanor comes from a poor, abusive, and tough family where everything she does is wrong. Park and Eleanor are also starting to be more public about their relationship and while some people are okay with it, others aren't so much. The kids on the bus, aren't so okay with it, to the point of giving Eleanor so much crap about it, Park gets in a fight with the most moronic (and also the biggest) kid on the bus. While Eleanor's friends are okay with it, her stepdad isn't but Park's dad is.

Eleanor and Park By: Rainbow Rowell

        In the book, Eleanor and Park, the setting is the year, 1986 and it starts in August seeing how the book takes the course of its story through a schoolyear. The town is Omaha, Nebraska and that's where two sixteen year-olds meet. The two most important characters are of course, Eleanor and Park, the sixteen year-olds. Eleanor comes from a broken home where it seems as if nothing can go right due to her stepfather, Richie, and her extremely submissive mother who does everything she can to stay out of Richie's way, and on top of all this, she lives in a small house sharing an even smaller room with her four other siblings who happen to all be younger than she is.  Whereas, Park comes from a seemingly easy lifestyle compared to Eleanor's. He lives in a nice house with a nice family and a seemingly easy life when in reality, he has a father who expects so much out if him, it's unbearable.  His mother is Korean which means he doesn't exactly fit in race-wise with the other kids. His brother is a pain in the butt and taller and stronger than he is, and on top of it all, for some reason he can't help but liking and maybe even loving, Eleanor. She is a social outcast for the way she dresses poorly and sticks out like a sore thumb and Park tries to keep under the radar but yet, fate finds them a match. Each other. (249)

     I predict something bad is going to happen in their relationship but they will perserve through it. Also, this book in a way makes me think of the movie, Pretty Woman. She comes from a poor, less comfortable lifestyle while he comes from a rich or comfortable lifestyle but in the end they fall in love and can make it work even though she can be difficult to deal with and he doesn't alwazys understand her, they make it work.

House Rules by Jodi Picoult

   House Rules is about an eighteen year old boy, Jacob, who has Asperger's which is a form of autism. He is not handicapped though, he is incredibly intelligent and understanding, that is of a lot of things, yet, he is socially awkward and doesn't understand emotions the way other people do because of the Asperger's. His mother pays a college girl, Jess, to help him with social interactions and learn how to properly behave in social situations. Yet, when she goes missing and her body is found, dead, Jacob is suddenly being put behind bars and accused of killing her since he was one of the last ones to see her alive. This story takes place in The United States of America in our time period.

The MIP is, "Instead, he closes his eyes. He sways forward and rests his cheek against the window, spreads his arms as wide as they can go. I realize he is trying to embrace me. I put the receiver down and step up to the window. I mimic his position, so that we are mirrors of each other, with a glass wall between us. Maybe this is what it is always like for Jacob, who tries to connect with people and can't ever quite manage it."-(Picoult, 223)

I think this is the most important passage because it shows what it's like to be in prison and yet shows what it's like to have Asperger's at the same time. It makes you really feel emotion too, how hard it is to not be with a loved one for so long and when you finally are and you want to hold them, in jail, you can't.

The SOB is: "'And you're basing your assumption on the evidence, without ever having met Jacob.'" -(Picoult, 237)

I think this sentence is brilliant because the woman they are questioning in court is Jacob's therapist and they are telling her she is basing her views on knowing Jacob and not the evidence so that is her response. It's so cunning because it makes you wonder whether it should be based on evidence or of what you know of the person because evidence can always be wrong, but sadly, so can what you know of a person.