Eleanor & Park

In the novel, Eleanor & Park, I really like how the author, Rainbow Rowell, highlights the struggle of the two main characters, Eleanor and Park. Rowell does a really good job at giving the reader a good sense of the individual personalities of Eleanor and Park. She does so by alternating the point of views of each of the characters in each chapter. Because of this, I can understand each of the characters' situations when they are both away and with each other, much more easily.

I also really like how the author portrayed these to characters to be ordinary high school students, with problems similar to actual problems some highschoolers may actually have. For instance, Eleanor's struggle is that she lives with her mom and her step dad, Richie, who she secretly despises. Eleanor soon notices that her mother has changed ever since they moved in with Richie. Some high schoolers may have had experiences similar to Eleanor's. An example of a moment where Eleanor notices changes in her mother is,"Eleanor wasn't complaining about not having to eat with Richie.....But now it was like their mom wanted them all out of the way before he came home. She even made him a totally different dinner. The kids would get grilled cheese, and Richie would get steak." (p.26) As you can see from this quote, Eleanor is noticing negative changes in her mother. I infer that these changes are a cause of Eleanor's mother moving in with Richie.