I am Malala

 Malala is such a raw and powerful young girl, and hearing her discuss her hometown of SWAT made me want to go. It made me want to jump into her novel and see the water falls and mountains, It made me want to reread The Kite Runner because it gave me such an interesting parallel. I would think about how the boys in the kite runners time was right before Malala, and when the protagonist was in America that was then Malala's time. That gap that I had always wanted to see from that area was now given, but this time from a female protagonists whose rights were taken even more. Now I NEED to read A Thousand Splendid Suns. Because I am Malala is a nonfiction novel there wasn't great character development. That though cannot fault the book in anyway. It is based on true events so adding those literary elements would take away from the story overall and take away its passion that we read from her words. She is such a powerful writer and speaker that her best literary device was her rhetoric. Talking to herself about what she should do. Talking to God was a huge one. We just saw her constantly making decisions, but also that true aspect of questioning what you are doing something before you do it. It was just so powerful.
I think young adults love this book because it is someone their age who had their education taken from her. Something we don't even think about except mostly in a negative way. When I was younger I hated school. I never wanted to go. But the older I got the more I appreciated school--well specific classes. And now in college I love school. I am a schoolaholic. But to have that love for school at such a young age is something rare in the united states. I also think students are interested in the book because she was shot for wanted her education and standing up for education. That is the big thing. People are drawn to the dramatic, and being shot and living is as dramatic as it gets.
My one drawback is cause it read very young. Maybe it is because I was reading the YA version but it just felt young. I want to give it to my 12 year old cousin to read who absolutely detests school.
My rating: A-

Almost Perfect

Obviously Almost Perfect talks about a topic that people (young and old) are insensitive to and don't like to talk about it. I will admit that as a youth I was not sensitive to it. My sister and I would see a girl that was trans and snickered calling them "Hebeshebe" as we were exiting the store. Not friendly, considerate, or kind. But this was coming from a two young catholic girls, from a very white town that rarely saw diversity. My dad, to this day, when I talk about a friend that is trans or was reading this book was similar to Sage's dad in calling her a boy, enunciating it for me. 20 year old me gets mad and irritated at him for being so inconsiderate. But then I remember that that would have been me three years ago and he lived in a household where his mom was the picture perfect Catholic woman--she would have probably done the same thing. If it wasn't for my classes at WSU and for working with someone who is trans would my perspective on it start to shift forever. This book although from the perspective a straight person still shows the struggles people that are trans face (I am not sure if I am using the word trans in the right tense or grammatically; I am trying to not be offensive though). If the book was written from Sage's point of view I think the book would have been better and better represented of the people that face the issues she faces. But because we are seeing it from Logan's perspective we see only what he sees and his struggles with thinking he is gay and falling for a man--we are forced into the selfish head of Logan and I really wished I could have seen what was happening from Sage's point of view.
I think adolescents who are struggling with their sexual identity need books like the choice books we read. They need to see that what they are facing is not wrong or bad or odd. They need to know they are not alone. What is shown on media is mainly straight men and women who were born that way. That is the only thing they see and because of this they feel what they are feeling is wrong. Especially if family is pushing the idea aside and making them feel ashamed. These books teach and help people feel more considerate and learn about a topic that is not talked about. But, since I do not have this issue I didn't want to read it. I won't lie, I honestly didn't want to read the book. I didn't think it was for me and that part of younger me is still in the back of my head. I am so glad I did though. It helped me feel more considerate and really showed me what a pompous white privileged girl I was being and I was irritated with myself alongside being irritated with Logan. It was a really great book and I wish there was more out there for people that are struggling with this issue of feeling ashamed for feeling different. It also helped that two boys in the middle school class I visited over the break are going by girl names and don't want to be identified by gender names. One of two I did not meet. The teacher said he only comes in to class when it is convenient to him and when he is in class doesn't do anything. . .  This may be true, but it also may be true that he is struggling with who he is and maybe having problems at home? It's the same age Sage officially knew she was a girl. I think adults often forget that middle school is when students are realizing who they are, they aren't stupid.
My rating: A-

Wintergirls

I love Wintergirls. Like a lot of the books we've read I read this in high school, but I can't believe I did. I remember that her friend died but I forgot that you knew from the very beginning. I remember her working out for hours, but I don't remember her knowing every single calorie. I remember little things, but not much. For me, this shows that for teens just reading the book they may not pick up on the negative views towards anorexia. I just remember the book was about anorexia. I don't know if this says a lot about teens, or just about me (that I was reading so many books in high school this was just another one). This book creates such a dark and ominous mood that I was constantly having to take moments of pause while reading and really think about what just happened. It is a book that forces to think and see this disease as what it is, a disease. It is easy to see people with mental disorders and say that they just need to have faith and get through it, but its easier said then done. Anderson shows this in a darkly beautiful way. She uses all literary elements you can name, but for me the one that stood out the most would be her writing style. With having the words that haunt her I a different font. With having words crossed out. With the calories next to the food. We as readers were I Lia's mind and it was spooky. It was so beautifully done that it made me cringe. I have done a lot of research on anorexia because I have always been so fascinated with it, and everything she describes is to a tee--most of the things I only learned when I was in college. How hair starts to grow all over the body to help heat the body. The drawing how you see yourself on a poster board but then the doctors tracing around you to show you how you really look. These are all things that are done and are so true and high school students need to know. They need to know that these are the signs and that it is a disease. I have a friend that has some of these symptoms but she doesn't realize that she has these tendencies. She has no idea and that scares me. This book showed me that I was right and that scared me even more.
This book isn't very culturally responsive in how its about two upper class white privileged girls--a bit stereotypical. But I love this book so much I don't really care. Is it weird I love this book so much? I just love how much detail and style is put in this book. It's so different than other books I read and I just think Anderson is brilliant.
I honestly think every girl wants to be skinnier then they are. Every single one. Just every girls differs in how they go about it. I know for me I work out and try to eat more veggies. For teens I am worried this could give them ideas because when I try to lose weight some of these things I would think of after I had read it in high school. I wasn't anywhere near Lia's problem--I love food far too much and have too good of a life that I feel out of control. I would just think of them. If I was anorexic this is what I would do. Nah I'm hungry I need a burger now. I didn't have the mental disorder that had me act on them. But the fact that as a teen I thought back on this book, that is worrisome even if I didn't act on it. I think this is because this book wasn't taught, as well as once I hit high school I can't remember talking about anorexia or bulimia. We talked about it in middle school and watched videos, but now as much in high school. So I do think it could be worrisome for teens if they are reading it just to know how to do certain things. I could see girls, who do not know much about the disorder, wanting to be skinnier and reading this book to get answers. I think teens read this book because they are fascinated by the topic. They are fascinated by how it works and how the mind rationalizes things. These girls are mostly just trying to find control in their lives and this is the only thing they can control and it just snowballs from there. I'm fascinated by it.
I would rate this book an A+.

Unwind 2

It's funny after finishing the novel and thinking about the characteristics the novel has, Lev--the one character I disliked--was the character that had the most change. He starts out as this annoying goody-to-shoes who is sacrificing himself for God. But then when he's taken and realizes his pastor wants him to run away he starts to have a midlife crisis. But in the end he is the one character who has a climax and a conclusion. He could either clap, or save the people he cares about. It was just interesting to me that the one character that wasn't the most viewed protagonist and I'm guessing least liked, was the most interesting and intricate of characters. Besides having the dystopia theme of technology as destruction and war, it also had a huge theme of deciding between right and wrong. which are huge themes and I think so important for teens. Dystopia novels show teens that they can make a difference in the world and are important. What they do with their future decides how our world goes. Their decisions are huge and dystopia books show students what they don't want to become. That's what happens every time I read a dystopia book, I think "Shit I really hope that never happens. That would be horrible." It creates action in a more subtle way. This is why I think teens also would like this book. It is intriguing. Abortion is a huge topic and this book brings it up the idea of getting this happy medium between pro life and pro choice and how it got so intense. Obviously we are not even close to the same spot the people in the book were during the new war (thank God) but it is still a huge issue. This book answers the question, "what would happen if both pro life and pro choice had a happy medium." There are so many questions to ask but this is the one I think it biggest in the book.
My Grade for this book is an A- by the end

Unwind

While reading Unwind I think the thing that stands out the most (for me) is the different characters. I can tell how I feel about a character each time their chapter comes up. I like Connor and Risa--but for some reason I detest Lev. I find this interesting because in a moral sense Connor and Risa are the "bad guys" of the three and Lev is the "good guy". In dystopia books though we--the readers--love the characters that stand up against their society and are the outlaws. We see in countless times: Tris (Divergent), Katniss (The Hunger Games),  Hannah (Delirium), Thomas (The Maze Runner), Cassia (Matched), Tally (Uglies), Jonas (The Giver), Wanda (The Host--my favorite book of all time). I could list off more but then we would be here all day . . . and I want to save some info for my presentation. All go against what is expected of them from society because they do not agree with what is going on, or they are forced to go against society because they are different. We, as readers, are used to liking and rooting for the character that goes against the social norms and what is expected of them. This is the authors point. They are trying to get their readers to see how corrupt the society they have created is and by doing this, see how our society is corrupt and give us the strength to disagree. Dystopia novels are satirical and what I remember from my satire class is that satire is a big "what if . . ." for Unwind it is, What if we could abort children after they were born? We then see the chaos that goes behind it.
I think students are attracted and enjoy Dystopia novels because the protagonists are seen as heroes, even though they go against the adults. This is every kids dream, to break the rules and it be right. Dystopia novels do that--Unwind definitely does that.

So far I would give this book a B+, we'll see what happens in the second half.

All American Boys

This book mesmerized me the same way the video we watched in class where the authors discussed the book. I felt like I was there and I was all in. I wanted to read every word and know what was going on. I had no other option. I had been inveloped by the story. Tears would prick the edges of my eyes while I was reading (similar to when I was watching the video). I started to see my life for what it is, a place a can simply sit back and relax. I have no worries, no serious worries that matter. Both the book and the video made me think critically about my white privilege. It is easy to feel guilty, but that doesn't do anything. Instead I would say these authors make me want to take action. I don't just want to stand idly by and let these racial injustices keep occurring. The best way I can do that is in my classroom. To teach my students about the racial injustices and not let it me a topic I shy away from in fear--similar to the teachers and coach in the book who say leave that stuff at the door. I will not leave it at the door because that is not where it will get fixed. Ignoring the problem doesn't do anything. It helps no one. It doesn't help me, my family, my community, my students, our world. This book brings up these issues and parallels two young boys to evoke emotion. They are not adults. They are not different. The only thing that makes them different is the color of their skin, and because of this they have two extremely different life situations and lives in general.
JP brought up something in class on Thursday as Chris and I were walking out. He said how if it was a female where a short skirt people would be talking about what she was wearing. But because Rashad was a male we were standing up for the fact that it doesn't matter what he's wearing. I disagree with this. I think people still think that because of the way African Americans dress they are asking to get shot. They think that the fact they dress "hood" is a way of them asking for it. I definitely do not agree with this, but I think it is the case. There is a hierarchy: white male, white female, black male, black female. Because of this I think white girls are seen as more pure and innocent then black males when something bad happens to them. Society will be more willing to get on what an African American male wears then a white female. I am not saying that females are not degraded because this is definitely not the case. But I don't think that in this instance you can compare a white female to an African American male because that is not what the book is about. It is not bringing in women--this is not the place to bring in that information. Other books, yes. Eleanor and Park? Yes. Gabi a Girl in Pieces? Yes. The Absolute True Diary of a Part Time Indian? Yes. Not this book. This is about something I see as almost bigger and a bigger issue at the moment. That may not be right, but that is my opinion.
There are so many sections of this back that I know I can teach. I can't teach the whole book because of the language and sexual references, but there are sections I know I can pull out of it and teach to my class. Have a day where we don't read the book but go over sections of the book, compare it to history and what is going on today. The book references parts of history and I think it would be interesting to go into detail about those instances and then compare it to the book and now. I would obviously have to be cautious while doing this but I also think it is imperative that we don't shield our students from this information. I also got Andrew to read the book and watch the video because I think he could teach this book and it would be really successful.
This book interests teens because it is about young boys. It is talking about current issues that are so prevalent and that isn't being talked about. Like Jason said in the interview we watched, kids don't want to talk about this issues. They see it in front of them, but they are not willing to talk about it. They don't want to face the reality of it. But it is so important to talk about because (also like Jason said) they are not going to be the ones that change things, we are. Our students are. They need to learn about it. They need to read this book and have a pit in their stomachs and have this need to change things, because we need to change things. It starts with our students and it starts with us. We must take action. This book brings that need to take action out of its readers because it is so powerful.
My rating for this book is an A+

The Absolute True Diary of a Part Time Indian

I loved this book. I think Alexie is brilliant with what he did with his novel The Absolute True Diary of a Part Time Indian. He was able to have a novel that is incredibly satirical and that interests young adults. They laugh and find it humorous, and maybe think deeper about what Alexie is trying to say. Junior goes through constant character development. Trying to understand who he is and where he fits in. The biggest scene for the novel was the basketball against his old high school (the second game). After Junior's team wins he has a realization that I think was huge to the plot overall and shows that the book is a satire--he starts to think about how yes, his team won . . . but his team would always win. They had scholarships for college. Their parents had money. But his peers that he won against don't have that, this was the one thing they had. Junior analyzes that one game and it really speaks for the book as a whole and what he's been noticing. I was going to say that the book doesn't bring up strong women but then I realized that was wrong--it doesn't bring up young white strong women. Junior's mom, grandma, and sister were all strong women, things just didn't always go right for them.
This book is great for adolescents. I think they would really respond to the humor and the problems that go on in the novel. All students go through struggles of trying to figure out how they are, but what Alexie does that is unique is also critique racism and peoples views on Native Americans. He does it in a way though that could be dangerous if students believe the stereotypes and instead of learning from it start to believe the stereotypes. I think this book would be great to teach 8th graders (because they are about to go into high school and are around the same age as Junior) or 9/10th grade. This book is good for younger students but still has enough touchy subjects that a high school student or older middle school student should read. The teacher would need to make sure they touch on Native American history and make sure students see the satirical aspects of the novel and don't take it only at face value. But I do think it would be an important book to teach.
My rating for this book is an A.

Gabi a Girl in Pieces

Gabi a Girl in Pieces was a very interesting book.  It wasn't like anything I have ever read. Mostly in the fact that it discussed almost all of the "don't talk about" issues. Sex, drugs, LGBTQ, weight, teen-pregnancy, culture. All things that may come up in a book, but not all together. Even though these are all taboo topics, it still went together. It felt genuine and worked well with the book. At times I felt like the author forgot parts about the character until they brought it back near the end, but I think that was because there was so many things the author was trying to cover. It was a good book but it wasn't my absolute favorite book ever. It felt like the author was trying to be shocking and add a lot of riskay topics but it got to the point where it was a bit much. I really enjoyed the narration of Gabi. She was hilarious and her words were written in such a genuine journal entry that I could picture her saying it out loud. It was awesome! I loved her narration and would find myself laughing at some things she said simply because of how it was said.
I think this book does a really good job of relating to teens. It brought me back to when I was in High School and realizing that students in my grade were having sex, seemingly similar to Gabi. I was shocked that it was happening everywhere but I was also curious. Not as, I guess you could say, adventurous as Gabi was in that field but I was still curious about it. I couldn't believe it was a thing. It felt almost like Gabi was a sophomore or junior in high school though instead of a senior because of all these things she was discovering. It felt like she had been living under a rock until her senior year, or until Cindy got prego. I think teens want to read about all of these taboo subjects so they would be fascinated by this book. It is all the things they are told not to do, think about, worry about, or know about all in one book and I think teens would absolutely devour it! It is a book that I think all high school students would want to read. The seemingly "naughty" and "innocent" students a like because they would all be curious.
My grade for this book is a B.

American Born Chinese

Initially, I planned on having this book be one of the blogs I skipped. But after reading it there was no way I could skip writing this blog. When I had heard of graphic novels being taught a part of me thought it was ridiculous. Ok all of me. I couldn't figure out why students would be interested in reading a graphic novel--then I realized I was thinking of myself; I would not be interested in reading a graphic novel. When I was working at the middle school though I found that middle school students would love to have a graphic novel as their book to read. I saw this in two ways. The first was in Mrs. Gutierrez's (the teacher I follow relentlessly) intervention class. This is a class of five or six students who have had problems with reading or writing in the past (whether in class, testing, or both) and Mrs. Gutierrez gives them extra help with reading and comprehension. In this class a girl had finished reading all of the Maximum Ride books and was now reading the graphic novel versions of them. All of the other students wanted to look at the graphic novels and in the end made one young boy I paid special attention to want to read Maximum Ride. This is a boy who has an English teacher that is not preparing him well in the slightest. He must read a book and write a half page on what is going on . . . that is it. The teacher isn't reading the same book--the students get to read what they want--so she doesn't know if he is actually understanding what is going on at all. Graphic novels was a way to get the students interested in reading and see that reading can be fun. Another instance in Mrs. Gutierrez's class that I saw that graphic novels would be useful was when she read the picture book Voices in the Park by Anthony Browne. In this book every page is filled with little details that even Mrs. Gutierrez had never noticed, and she has read this book many many times (she taught it when she taught elementary school and now the two years of middle school). The book also has four points of views and explains the same story but from a different characters point of view. And the kids LOVED it! They were raising their hands constantly, wanting to share what they had found in the pictures. They didn't even know that they were learning but they were. This showed me that graphic novels can get students excited to learn and excited to be involved. The graphic novel American Born Chinese I think would be perfect for middle school students.  There are some inappropriate aspects to the book but I don't think they are bad enough to make it so I could not teach it--middle school students are not oblivious and are at that age where they are noticing the opposite sex.
I loved how there were three parts of the story and how throughout you had no idea where they came together. For me, when I first started reading I thought the section with the cousin was so obnoxious! I kept thinking "ok there has to be a point to this. This is far to offensive" but I realized this was planned. I think that story was showing how Jin thought people saw him. Even the monkey story had to do with Jin. The stories showed great character development. I think this would be a great text for seventh graders in my Identity unit. Jin is struggling with this idea of identity, both being in middle school and being a Chinese American. But I think all students could relate to this graphic novel--and they would be engaged and want to read it.
I am not going to touch on this much since I discussed it above but I think the fact that it is a graphic novel will appeal to adolescents. They will be intrigued by both the story and the pictures. Even though they may want adults to see them as adults and goof off about "little kid things" I know they would love this graphic novel. I also think it appeals to adolescents in what it talks about. A first crush. How to act on a first date. Wanting to be what you think people want but then realizing that's not who you are. These are all things middle school students face but in a unique twist. There are so many things I could have students do with this. Create their own graphic novel line for their life, acting out a scene from one of the sections that I assign, creating a video thing for the story and what it says. So many options! I'm so excited to start planning!
My rating: A

Thirteen Reasons Why

I am shocked that I read Thirteen Reasons Why when I was in 7th or 8th grade and was able to sleep at night. I had read the book when it first came out because I was (and still am) obsessed with checking Barnes and Noble website and look at new and popular teen books. I was first shocked with the peeping tom seen that I had read that but then it just escalated. I told my mom yesterday "I should not have read that book in middle school. No way no how." So . . . what I realized is that in my middle school class if I have the book on my shelf students will need to have his parents sign a permission slip to read it and I will not be teaching them this book. This doesn't mean it shouldn't be taught though. I will discuss this later.
This book is one of the few that really shows the reason and the effect bullying and teen actions can have on an individual and the possible repercussions. Even though the novel only takes place over one day it has great character development. The readers get to see the development of Clay throughout his listening to the tapes of Hannah and his emotions and tone develops throughout. We see him sad at the beginning but the farther in the more empathy and depressed he gets. It is no longer him mourning a girl he kind of knows--he starts to mourn the girl she was before she started high school at that school. It wasn't a culturally responsive book but I don't think that took away from the book. It didn't set stereotypes for folks of color nor did it specify that the students or any of the 13 reasons why were white. Otherwise it may have taken away from the book--maybe.
I think adolescents are attracted to this book because it is this huge piece of gossip. Every teen, child, adult love gossip. Maybe not all, but they are interested by it--we as human want to know what's going on. This book feeds that need. It feeds that need to investigate and figure out what really happened and why. Students I think are also intrigued by the idea of suicide. Sad and scary yes but also true. In school it is often walked around and not brought up in a way to truly educate a student. In high school suicide does happen and I think it is something that should be brought up and discussed. I think if someone was to teach this they should teach it in 11th or 12th grade. I also think you could pair this book with The Scarlet Letter to show the differences people take for ridicule. You don't even have to have the students read the book you could watch a clip or go over the plot of The Scarlet Letter.
My rate for this book is A.

Marcelo in the Real World

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I believe that the author Francisco X Stork did a very good job of placing his audience in the mind of Marcelo. At parts it was confusing because I wasn't sure what was going on because of how chaotic his thoughts were. The plot was well done in that it wasn't strictly about someone that was disabled--it was about friendship and growing up. Marcelo learned what it was like to be in the real world but he also learned what it was like to come up with his own opinions and to stick by them (this is an important thing to be seen in YAL and I will discuss later in this post). For character development I couldn't really see until the end. Throughout the novel it sounded and felt as if Marcelo was talking. Until the end when he was talking with his Rabbi did I truly see a character development. I think this is something that would be better seen in a movie version where you notice him not bringing up bible quotes and where they are in the bible, but in the book it felt like the same character throughout. On the topic of cultural and gender stereotypes I did not see this with culture. I do not believe there were cultural stereotypes but there was also not much cultural diversity. This I believe is because it was the point of Marcelo and he was not a character that noticed peoples looks nor cared: as shown by his confusion with Jasmine and her looks. There were a lot of gender stereotypes though. Wendell was seen as this frat star sex king who only cared about what women looked like. Marcelo's mother though seemed--in a sense--like a weak mother who listened and did what her husband wanted most of the time (and was later found to be cheated on). Jasmine was seen as smart but not smart enough to do more then work in a mail room and just tried to get out of her small town; another gender stereotype. Although I did enjoy this book some of stereotypes and lack of obvious character development was a bit frustrating and took away from the overall plot of the story--Marcelo.
I believe adolescents would thoroughly enjoy this novel. I think it would be an interesting text to teach high school students because of the issues that are posed. I think this book would appeal to adolescents because of its quick pace as well as this need to figure out what is right and what is wrong. In high school students often struggle with this idea of right and wrong and don't know if they should stand up for someone or let it slide. This book shows that it is alright to say that something is wrong and to go with your gut. I do not think this book is appropriate for middle school students though. Even though there are good messages I think some of the sexual connotations and family aspects are too much for that age. I would recommend teaching this novel to 9th or 10th grade students.
My grade for this book is a B+

Between Shades of Gray

Between Shades of Gray is without a doubt one of my favorite books. I have always loved historical fiction but this one is so unique. It is a story that is not often told--usually popular historical fiction is about World War II. Besides being an important story to tell historically, this book has a plethora of themes: perseverance, family, right/wrong: the book isn't just about surviving but about making sure to stay true to who you are as a person. This book also has a lot of character development with Lina. Everyone else around her stays the same. Her mom is strong. Andrius is strong. The bald man is grouchy. Every character has their "thing" that they stick to throughout the novel except Lina. Lina goes from seeming like a young girl to a young woman who takes control. By having the characters around her stay the same the author really emphasizes the protagonist and puts her under this light. I can't put my finger on what this does for the novel as a whole but will be thinking about it until class on Tuesday. I do not think you can say this text is not culturally responsive because of the fact that it is historical. As an author she can't add a person of color to make it culturally responsive because that is not what happened. Also, because of the fact that it is about Lithuanians that in itself makes it culturally responsive.
This novel shows teens as things that grow. Lina is a totally different character at the beginning than she is at the end--she is stronger and goes through this development that is seen in a lot of young adult literature novels. The theme of family is also appealing to teens as well as this semi romance. But what appeals to teens about this book is that it is not just about love stories. There are so many other factors going on that that is only an eighth of the important of the novel. The speed and ease of this book would also appeal to teens. It is a quick read and you cannot help but get swept up in the story.
I really want to teach this text to middle school students but it may be too old for them--in this case I may just grab snippets of it and compare it with the history. I'd probably start by going over the history with the students for a day or half a day and then do poster boards where each one as a chapter of the book and a question about what that says about the history of the event as a whole.
My grade for this book is an A+.

Eleanor and Park

Although I am rereading Eleanor and Park for a second time I am uncovering so many details that I never noticed previously. The last time I read this novel I was sitting at Lake Chelan, happy and content with both my parents and my sister. My biggest struggle was thinking I was getting "fat" and didn't want to eat the cookies my mom bought as one of out many treats(let me tell you that I was thinner than I am now but still thought I was blowing up like a balloon . . . so beyond ridiculous). I was the same age as Eleanor and Park but definitely not having any of the same issues these two were having--did I notice this though as a 17 year old girl? Hell no. Rereading this novel blows me away with not only my own stupidity at the age of 17, but also astonished at all of the amazing thematic and culturally responsive pieces that this book holds.(Sorry that was not part of the assignment but I felt was a necessary tidbit and needed to be ranted about).
 Eleanor and Park reverses the social norms; Park has a happy family life and is part Korean while Eleanor has a very unhappy family life and is white. Although this is more culturally responsive than some YA books Park is still half white and his mom was brought from Korea when she met Park's dad at the age of 18. Another stereotype that is seen throughout is this belief that to be happy as a woman you must be tall, skinny, and beautiful--thus why Eleanor is having such a hard time at school (besides for Park <3 dreamy dreamy comic book hero Park). The novel also keeps the stereotype of straight couples and doesn't outright say it is bad to be gay . . . but is subtly implied via his dads reactions to Park. But, Park's dad is not seen as a hero, thus showing that his opinion shouldn't be trusted.
This book positions adolescents as love sick teens but in a different light then other YA novels. The relationship is a friendship, a romance, and a safe-place. It isn't a way for Eleanor to be rebellious or for her to be get away from her bad parents who aren't really bad. Park is a safe-place where she can be herself and where she can hide from the problems that she is having at home. It's not just a romance. They each are seeing the good, the bad and the ugly from each other--this book is most definitely not all roses and daisies. When I was a teen and read this book I felt uncomfortable after reading. It didn't make me want to keep reading because I related to the characters or because I wanted to be like them--I wanted to see if everything would end up ok. I believe Eleanor and Park relates to teens because for some they may relate, but for others it brings out their sympathies. As a teen you are so invested in what is going on in your life . . . this books transports you someplace where you can't not think and feel sympathy for the characters. As a future educator this book makes me think of my future students. None of the teachers (besides the counselors) reached out to Eleanor. How did they not realize that she was constantly being bullied and why didn't they reach out to her at all? This stuns me, and I like to believe wouldn't happen at the Middle School I want to teach at, but I also know this does happen. This novel is so important for students and for teachers to read. It shows students that you don't know what happens at home for your peers. The girl who wears weird clothes could be wearing that because that's all she has. The boy who falls asleep in class could be doing that because his family didn't have enough money for breakfast. There are so many examples that could happen and this book shows you that you don't really know what is going on with someone else. I would rate this book an A-. (the minus because it makes me feel gross--which is good that it evokes emotion-- and I can't reread it).