Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell

Oooooh, this book! First, let me start by saying this is a banned book - for reasons I am unsure. Yes, I have read why and think they are poppycock. This book should be required reading, not forbidden.

Eleanor is a very wounded young girl of 16. Caught between child and womanhood, Eleanor struggles to be the glue for her young siblings in a house of horrors, thanks to her stepdad, a drunk who is unkind and creepy (there is no bathroom door, he leers at Eleanor, and as it turns out, is suggestive with his comments). After relocating, yet again, Eleanor finds herself on the bus sitting next to an Asian kid (her words), who turns out to be far more than she could ever have hoped.

Park (the kid on the bus) comes from a polar opposite family, where the kid is embarrassed because his parents kiss, on the lips, with tongue, regardless of who is watching. Park and his brother's biggest worries are what's for dinner at their grandparents' house the following Sunday.

While Eleanor struggles to stay unnoticed in high school, she wears unconventional statement pieces (men's ties, feathers, etc.) to cover up the fact that her clothes are used and often with rips in undesired places or several sizes too large. Park, the cool kid, wears all the right clothes, fits in without trying, even though he feels an outcast because of his ethnicity in all-white Omaha, and is unbelievably drawn to Eleanor's uniqueness.

Over time, Park's genuine kindness and patience win out, and Eleanor gives him a chance to show her how she deserves to be treated and respected.

Eleanor & Park has SO many good lessons in it (and no overt sex and only a few harsh swear words. It was banned for 'vile profanity' with 227 instances of coarse language and sexuality (I am literally rolling my eyes at this)) that teenagers should read this book to get an understanding of how some of their peers may be living and what struggles they have. A book like Eleanor & Park should be celebrated for its empathy, not banned.