Eleanor & Park is, I’m pretty sure, one of the perfect YA reads. Not being YA myself I can’t confirm this, but I was a teenager in the distant past, Rainbow Rowell does a fabulous job of documenting the sheer pain, desperation and incredible excitement of being that age. When everything is so important you can’t possibly imagine how you’re going to get over the smallest slight or day that doesn’t go your way. Eleanor is a fantastic character. Angry, troubled, so so so lacking in confidence. Here’s a great quote that summarises that desperate love and emotion that I think you can only feel when you’re a little young and naive.
"I don’t think I even breathe when we’re not together… That’s probably why I’m so crabby, and why I snap at you. All I do when we’re apart is think about you, and all I do when we’re together is panic. Because every second feels so important. And because I’m so out of control, I can’t help myself. I’m not even mine anymore, I’m yours, and what if you decide that you don’t want me? How could you want me like I want you?"
After Eleanor & Park I read Fangirl, by the same author. It’s a nice fun read, but with none of the emotional resonance that hit me so hard. If you fancy a book to devour and transport you back to being an overly emotional desperate for love teenager (surely not just me) then do read it. And then come back so we can talk about the ending.
