Eleanor & Park

Eleanor & Park
Company type	Young adult novel
Industry	Literature
Founded	2012
Founder	Rainbow Rowell
Products	Novel

Adapted from the English Wikipedia article Eleanor & Park, available under CC BY-SA 4.0Updated 10 August 2025

Eleanor & Park marks Rainbow Rowell's debut in the young adult novel genre, released in 2012. Set between 1986 and 1987 in Omaha, Nebraska, the narrative centers on Eleanor, a plump 16-year-old with curly red hair, and Park, a 16-year-old biracial Korean boy. Their bond forms on a school bus and deepens through mutual appreciation of comic books and mixtapes featuring 1980s music.

Plot

Eleanor Douglas begins her sophomore year living in a cramped two-bedroom apartment with her mother, stepfather Richie, and five younger siblings. Richie’s frequent drunkenness and abusive behavior create a hostile atmosphere at home. At school, Eleanor is targeted by bullies due to her distinctive style and appearance. Previously, Richie had expelled her from the house.

Park Sheridan, also aged 16, comes from a caring yet modest family in Omaha. Despite his parents’ diverse heritage, he enjoys a supportive household. Park wrestles with his biracial identity and lacks interest in taekwondo, a discipline his father highly values. Instead, he gravitates toward alternative music and comic books.

On Eleanor’s first school day, she is shunned by other students on the bus until Park offers her a place to sit. Sharing several classes together, Park soon recognizes Eleanor’s sharp intellect. Despite ongoing harassment and Eleanor’s troubled home life—including witnessing Richie’s abuse—the two gradually form a close connection.

After confronting Steve, one of Eleanor’s tormentors, Park gets into a fight that results in his mother grounding him due to her distrust of Eleanor. His father, however, stands by him and acknowledges Richie’s abusive nature. Upon witnessing Eleanor’s circumstances firsthand, Park’s mother invites her to stay with their family temporarily; Eleanor accepts but keeps this secret from her own family. Meanwhile, Eleanor’s uncle offers her a chance to attend a summer program for gifted students in Minnesota, but Richie forbids her participation.

As violence escalates at home, Eleanor escapes to Steve’s garage before turning to Park for assistance. With hesitant approval from his father, Park drives Eleanor to her uncle’s residence in St. Paul. Her relatives plan to remove her siblings from Richie’s custody.

Park continues writing letters to Eleanor but receives no reply. Eventually, Eleanor’s family leaves Richie’s household entirely. Park frequently passes by their old home and struggles with feelings of anger toward Richie but resists acting on them violently. Six months later, Park receives a postcard from Eleanor containing only three words.

Escape

Eleanor attempts to break free from the suffocating environment of her home life by leaving with Park for Minnesota. However, her mother and siblings eventually follow, leaving Park alone with their shared past.

Domestic abuse

Richie exerts physical and emotional abuse over Eleanor’s mother, maintaining control through intimidation and violence. Eleanor has grown accustomed to the constant tension and hostility within the household.

Child abuse

Richie also mistreats the children both physically and verbally. The family lives in poverty without access to essentials such as new clothing or hygiene items. All five children are forced to share a single cramped bedroom.

Bullying

At school, Eleanor endures bullying related to her body size, hairstyle, and clothing choices. Additionally, both Richie and her father make disparaging remarks about her looks.

Body image

Due to her body size, Eleanor becomes a target and typically wears large, secondhand garments. Although she struggles with feeling like an outsider because of her appearance, Park embraces her without reservation.

Reception and honors

The novel was met with largely favorable reviews from critics. Kirkus Reviews characterized it as "humorous, optimistic, candidly profane, romantic, and emotionally moving," resonating with both adolescent and adult readers. Author John Green commended the book for its vivid portrayal of youthful romance.

It garnered prestigious accolades such as the 2014 Michael L. Printz Award Honor for outstanding young adult literature. In 2013, Eleanor & Park received the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award for fiction, praised as "a sincere and heartrending depiction of flawed yet unforgettable love." The New York Times Book Review included it among the Notable Children's Books of 2013.

NPR recognized it as one of the Best Books of 2013 due to its genuine representation of teenage emotions. The audiobook version was honored with a 2014 Odyssey Honor from library organizations.

Other distinctions include:

Indies Choice Young Adult Book of the Year awarded by the American Booksellers Association
Amazon's Teen Book of the Year and inclusion in their Top Ten Books of the Year
Goodreads Choice Award for Best Young Adult Book
Top Ten Best Fiction for Young Adults by the Young Adult Library Services Association
Audible's Best Teen Audiobook of the Year

Anoka-Hennepin School District incident

Following a challenge at Anoka High School within Minnesota’s largest school district—the Anoka-Hennepin School District—policies were revised. Parents, backed by a local advocacy group, objected to the book’s language citing 227 instances involving profanity and sexual content, demanding its removal from library shelves. Consequently, both the district and Anoka County Library canceled a scheduled author event. A review panel consisting of parents, staff members, and a student concluded that the book is impactful, authentic, and suitable for high school audiences. The National Coalition Against Censorship condemned the event cancellation, highlighting its unfortunate timing during Banned Books Week.

Criticism of racism

The novel has been criticized for alleged anti-Asian bias, with detractors pointing to Park’s biracial Korean-American identity as portrayed through unexamined internalized racism and fetishization. Descriptions of Park’s physical traits frequently emphasize exoticism based on common but inaccurate stereotypes. The narrative also inaccurately merges Korean cultural elements—for example, confusing Taekwondo with kung fu.

Rowell faced scrutiny over Park’s first name—while common as a Korean surname, it is unusual as a given name—which she explained as reflecting American naming practices rather than traditional Korean ones. The book has also been accused of idealizing relationships between Korean women and U.S. soldiers and portraying Park’s mother through stereotypical “China doll” imagery.

Rowell has expressed her intention to broaden Asian-American representation within young adult literature by creating Park’s character. Additional concerns were voiced regarding the film adaptation being helmed by a Japanese director amid historical tensions between Korea and Japan.

Moreover, some have criticized the novel for reinforcing anti-black stereotypes via secondary characters, though detailed sources on this claim are limited.

Film

DreamWorks secured the adaptation rights for Eleanor & Park in 2014, initially assigning author Rainbow Rowell to develop the screenplay. However, by May 2016, Rowell announced on Twitter that the project had been discontinued and the rights had reverted back to her. In May 2019, she revealed that a new film adaptation was underway, produced by Picturestart alongside Brad Pitt's Plan B Entertainment, with Rowell once again penning the script.

By July 2020, Rowell disclosed that Japanese director Hikari had been chosen to helm the film, with casting commencing during that period. As of July 2025, the movie remains unreleased.