Summer Reading Assignment 2

So far in the book Eleanor & Park the characters are starting to develop and I'm starting to realize who they are as people. Eleanor just wants to be normal, in a normal home with normal parents and no bullying.  Now that she has gotten to know Park, she thinks that all she wants is him. Eleanor believes she cannot live without Park, and without him, she wouldn't be able to endure all that she goes through. Park also thinks he cannot live without Eleanor, she makes him into a better person. When she gets bullied-he defends her. In the book, there was one time when Eleanor got bullied on the bus and as soon as all the kids got off the bus Park got into a fight with the kid who was bullying her and got suspended for a few days. The fight happened even though Eleanor told Park not to start anything and that she "didn't care." Even though Eleanor "didn't care", Park still felt obligated to protect her. They "need" each other. So far I have encountered a couple themes. The first, sometimes keeping secrets from your loved ones might be the only possibility. Eleanor has to keep Park a secret from her family otherwise she could get kicked out, or even worse, never see Park ever again. Park desperately wants to meet her family but she won't let him and he is struggling to figure out why. The next theme I've noticed, two people who love each other might not always get along. This theme has held true throughout the book because I have noticed that Eleanor and Park are constantly fighting. So far they have gotten over all of their fights and they still love each other through thick and thin. The author has set this book up in a way that is easy for the reader. The chapters rotate between the point of view of Park and Eleanor so that we as the audience can see both of their points of view of just about everything. I find this useful so that we aren't biased toward one of them-we can choose for ourselves who to believe in their arguments.  

Summer Reading Assignment #1

I started reading the book Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell. There are 2 main characters-Eleanor and Park. Eleanor is a heavy red head who lives in a poor family. Her step dad mistreats her and she doesn't have enough money for "normal" clothes. She has to sleep in a room with her four little siblings and had to endure the never ending bulling on her bus and school. Park is also Eleanor's age and he lives in a normal house with his normal parents. Eleanor and Park meet on the bus on the way to school and almost instantly start falling for each other. The problem with their relationship though, is the fact that Eleanor hides all of the hardships about her life and all the problems she endures from Park. Way too many secrets are hidden from each other which will make their relationship hard. Eleanor's parents also don't know about their relationship and if they ever find out they could potentially kick her out once again. I predict that Eleanor and Park will get into a huge argument that they think they won't get over and eventually realize that that wasn't the worst of their problems and make up.  My only question is, will Eleanor and Park ever get over all the secrets when they find out?   I'm really excited to find out and so far this book is very very good.