This is a sweet, moving novel about two misfits finding love in the most unexpected of places. Knowing that was 80 percent of surviving with steve as your neighbor. Eleanor oliphant is completely fine book club questions and recipe. Omaha congressman brad ashford is our celebrity reader. I enjoy ya as a genre but had never heard of this one before. Themes student have in depth questions about some of the themes in the book. I didnt want to choose vodka because that was eleanors before drink so instead i went with magners, which i like to think of as her more social beverage. Eleanor and park is one of the best books i have ever read. Im a sucker for a good high school love story and this was no exception. When the book opens, we learn right away that our narrator, park, has lost someone named eleanor. Shes just moved to a new town, is struggling to make friends and is finding it even harder living under the same roof as her dysfunctional family. One day, park sees eleanor douglas hop on his bus, and also from that factor forward, his life is changed permanently. How do eleanor and park s parents shape their outlook on relationships and the future. This novel was such an incredibly pleasant surprise.
Perfect for acing essays, tests, and quizzes, as well as for writing lesson plans. Why does park s mother change her mind about eleanor. I kinda, sorta cheated and listened to the unabridged audiobook of eleanor and park at work. I may never have read it, but one of my book club ladies suggested.
Park is cool and even exotic looking, taking after his korean mother. When im not enjoying time with my family and friends, you will find me tinkering in the kitchen, whipping up a craft with the kids, or working on my website while watching a rerun. And she was dressed like like she wanted people to look at her. However, the story of these two unique teenagers still has its rawness and pain that makes it a compelling read. These questions are the perfect guide to help with a smallgroup. The other 20 percent was just keeping your head down. But, by the end of eleanor and park i was a crying mess. How is parks relationship with his mother different from his relationship with his father.
By switching between eleanors perspective and parks perspective, rowell lets the reader know both sides of the story from the very beginning. Published in 2012, the story follows dual narratives by eleanor and park, two misfits living in omaha, nebraska from 1986 to 1987. Time to read is a monthly book club podcast produced by the winnipeg public library. The characters face bullying, domestic abuse, and racism. Youll wish rainbow rowell writes a sequel when you are hanging on to the last sentence. The book still manages to feel light and romantic in spite of the obstacles the characters are facing and illustrates that change is. This months pick was eleanor and park by rainbow rowell i selected this book for our group to discuss based on the recommendation of several friends who listed it as part of their top reads of 2014. It kept falling down the list as knew books came out that sounded more thrilling and deep to me. The book is about the relationship between its two main characters, and the reader gets to see the relationship unfold from both sides equally, so the reader can understand all the choices that both eleanor and park make throughout. She pulled it out of the way and started to say sorrybut it was that stupid asian kid, and he frowned when he. Rumor has it that reese witherspoon is planning on making it into a major motion picture soon.
Eleanor has crazy red hair and a strange fashion sense. I didnt want to choose vodka because that was eleanor s before drink so instead i went with magners, which i like to think of as her more social beverage. But most people believe that punk rock started in the. I am blessed to have a job that lets me listen to books and music all day, so no complaining from me. Eleanor is the new girl in town, and with her chaotic family life, her mismatched clothes and unruly red hair, she couldnt stick out more if she tried. Park is a half korean misfit, who loved comics and punk music and wants to.
It tells the story of eleanor and park duh and their young love in the 80s. Eleanor and park is an ultimately hopeful young adult novel grounded in some harsh realities that probably wont feel unfamiliar to many teen readers. Oct 28, 2019 eleanor oliphant is completely fine book club questions and recipe. When she first meets park, she thinks hes obnoxious.
Eleanor says she and park are too young for true love. Now that may is coming to a close, wed love to discuss the book with you. The pure, fearlaced, yet steadily maturing relationship eleanor and park develop is urgent and breathtaking and, of course, heartbreaking, too. I selected this book for our group to discuss based on the recommendation of several friends who listed it as part of their top reads of 2014. Eleanor oliphant is completely fine book club questions and. I read it for my book club, and its one that had been on my to read shelf for years, but the premise just didnt get me all that excited.
I thought eleanor and park s relationship was incredibly realistic. Rowell constantly sprinkles references to mid80s pop culture and music into her book, but we get the feeling that she chose the 80s for more than just a nostalgiafest. Their relationship was so beautifully written, humorous at times and smile inducing while tugging hard at your heart. Printz honor book for excellence in young adult literature. 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. Ill break down what i loved about this bookme, the jaded reader who assigns 35 stars when im feeling generousin greater detail below, but first i thought i would explain how i came across my favorite book of 20. Eleanor oliphant is completely fine book club questions. Eleanor and park by rainbow rowell i did this book with my grade 7 and 8 students and they really enjoyed it. Park, the only halfkorean fan of punk and new wave at their high school, is by no means popular, but he benefits from his familys deep roots in their lowermiddleclass neighborhood. Eleanors mothers abusive relationship with eleanors stepfather, and the loving marriage of parks parents. Stephanie perkins, new york times bestselling author of anna and the french kiss and lola and the boy next door. How is park s relationship with his mother different from his relationship with his father. Eleanor and park s friendship and romance show that you cant judge someone by your first impression of them.
This book shows us two adult relationships that are polar opposites. Park is into music and constantly makes tapes of his favorite songs to listen to, while reading his comic magazines. Park is a half korean misfit, who loved comics and punk music and wants to keep his head down. Jun 10, 2019 wpl librarians discuss the novel eleanor and park by rainbow rowell. These questions are the perfect guide to help with a smallgroup discussion of the novel.
Eleanor, a chubby 16yearold girl with curly red hair, and park, a halfkorean, 16yearold boy, meet on a school bus on eleanors first day. Theres strong language and mature themes about poverty, domestic abuse, and emotionalfinancial instability. Eleanor and parks romance is definitely not love at first sight. This book dealt with so many heavy topics with humor and grace. Since this book is set in the mid1980s, in true 80s cassettetape style, we rewind to the beginning of the school year to find out what happened. Eleanor is the new girl, the girl with the crazy red hair and the strange clothes. How does each of these relationships affect eleanor and park. Black tshirts, headphones, head in a book he thinks. Eleanor comes from a broken home, and is immediately picked on as the new girl at school. Their friendship isnt exactly based on common ground, but on comic books read over park s shoulder by eleanor, then read discretely together on twicedaily bus journeys, then offered to eleanor by park to take home and discussed in detail on the bus.
Sometimes, if you ignored steve for a minute, he moved on to someone else. Park is halfkorean his parents met when his father was stationed in seoul and has an interest in punk and new. First, as is true with the birth of most genres of anything music, art, architecture, etc pinpointing the beginning is tough, if not impossible. This months pick was eleanor and park by rainbow rowell. They will have the tools to write a 4 paragraph book response including. And earlier in the story, park tells eleanor, bono was fifteen when he met his wife, and robert smith was fourteen, to which eleanor replies, romeo, sweet romeo. Why does parks mother change her mind about eleanor. I had eleanor and park by rainbow rowell on my reading list for almost a year. Sep 12, 2017 i loved that this book mentioned food and drink.
How do eleanor and parks parents shape their outlook on relationships and the future. May 26, 2018 like more ya books, the light writing style in eleanor and park is easily pulls the reader in. Eleanor and park by rainbow rowell book club questions. I thought eleanor and parks relationship was incredibly realistic.
Thats probably why this was featured for reeses book club. If that had been the case, eleanor would forever have thought of park as the stupid asian kid who cursed at her, and he wouldve considered her the big and offputting weird girl. The story of eleanor and park by rainbow rowell is a realistic paced tale of two high school students, eleanor and park, who find everything in one another on a loud school bus. Rainbow rowell has outlined a sequel for eleanor and park. It is a love story between two sixteenyearolds, eleanor and park.
Im a corporate warrior by day and a blogging mama by night. The contemporary romance novel followed two high school misfits in omaha. Eleanor and park book club kit vancouver island regional. It is written about teens, sure, but the themes are so universal that anyone who survived high school will relate to the lives of the two protagonists. She wear baggy, boys clothes and also was large in stature, with red hair. Near the end of the book, eleanor even thinks, park is the sun, which is a direct reference to a famous line from shakespeares play. Members of the book worm girls book group discuss the show with host kitty felde. Set over the course of one school year in 1986, this is the story of two starcrossed misfits smart enough to know that first love almost never lasts, but brave and desperate enough to try.
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