Eleanor & Park

Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell is a fantastic book that follows the unlikely romance between Eleanor and Park.  Eleanor lives a horrible life.  She's just recently moved back in with her mother and her abusive boyfriend after being kicked out a year earlier.  Eleanor's life is terrible at school as she is the punching bag for every bully, then when she's at home she has to hide from her mother's boyfriend in the room she shares with all of her siblings.  Her only happiness comes when she sits next to Park on the bus. 

I adored this book and couldn't put it down.  Eleanor's life was tragic and Park was a fantastic unlikely hero.  This is the type of book that makes the reader think about the way they treat people and the home lives that their classmates may have.  The romance is sweet and realistic, far from the typical instalove or super physical relationships that typically happen in romances.

Appropriateness:  There's quite a bit of discussion of abuse and it's quite traumatic to read at points, it would be a good one to talk to your child about.  There's some alcohol use.  I recommend this book to readers 14+