Young Adult Book Review: 'Eleanor & Park' by Rainbow Rowell

Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell
St. Martin's Griffin, 2013

“He'd stop trying to bring her back,” is the first line of this second novel by Rainbow Rowell. We soon learn that “he” is Park, a sixteen-year old half-Asian boy who used to be friends with some of the popular kids on the bus and now mostly tries to lay low and stay out of their way.

And "she" is Eleanor – the new kid in school, with wild matted red hair and crazy clothes with patches and eccentric accessories, who doesn't even make any effort to try and fit in. She's new at school and, by the time she arrives, all of the seats on the bus are taken.

She stands uncertainly in the aisle until Park takes pity on her and tells her (in a not-very-nice way) to sit down next to him. For a long time, they don't look or speak to each other at all. But one day, Park notices that Eleanor is reading his comic books over his shoulder, and a tentative friendship gradually develops.

The foreboding of the opening sentence of the novel hangs over the reader's head as we slowly fall in love with Park - the son of an all-American Vietnam veteran and his Korean hairstylist wife, and Eleanor - who lives in abject poverty and fear of her abusive step-father. And Eleanor and Park fall in love with each other.

The story takes place in the eighties, so Park and Eleanor share cassette tapes and listen to punk rock. But today's teens will have no trouble identifying with the intense feelings they develop for one another, and will unfortunately recognize some of the incidents of cruelty that Eleanor suffers at the hands of her peers as well.

If this book were a movie, it would be rated R for language, violence, and sex. But the tenderness of the love between the two protagonists, provides a stubborn sense of hope, against a backdrop of impending doom. I won't give away the ending. But I can almost guarantee that mature teen readers will love this book (and its quirky characters) as much as I did.
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Rainbow Rowell lives in Omaha Nebraska, with her husband and two sons. She's also the author of Attachments. Visit her web site at www.rainbowrowell.com.
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Renée Vaillancourt McGrath has worked at Montana Public Radio as a program host since 2002. Her background is in librarianship and she currently works as a freelance editor, blogger, and website developer. Check out more of her book reviews at reneesreads.com.

Children's Book Review: 'Hattie Ever After' by Kirby Larson

Hattie Ever After by Kirby Larson
Delacorte Press, 2013

After Kirby Larson wrote the Newbery Honor-winning Hattie Big Sky she had no intention of writing a sequel. But when readers started asking what happened to Hattie next, the author found herself wondering as well.

In Hattie Ever After, Hattie Inez Brooks joins up with a vaudeville troupe to leave Great Falls and seek her fortune in the San Francisco. She repeatedly rebuffs her beloved Charlie's advances in the pursuit of her dream to be a big-city reporter. She forms friendships (and even a hint of another romantic intrigue), has adventures, and solves mysteries in her slow but persistent climb from newspaper cleaning woman to researcher to reporter in spite of the barriers against women in the workplace in 1919.

Hattie Ever After has an air of nostalgic innocence that many parents wish existed in some of the more realist contemporary young adult fiction. While Hattie travels alone, faces sexism, and is betrayed by friends, she is never in any serious danger, and her long-distance relationship with Charlie never exceeds a quick stolen kiss.

Her rapid rise in the men's world of newspaper reporting makes it look easier than it must have been for many women during that period. But it is interesting to catch a glimpse of what life in early 20th century America must have been like. The author includes a note at the end of the book about her research process and describes which scenes were inspired by real-life events.

Pre-teen girls and conservative parents will likely fall for Hattie's all-American ambition to succeed in her career while still holding out hope for a happily-ever after with her high school sweetheart.
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Kirby Larson is a two-time New York Times bestselling author and has also partnered with her dear friend Mary Nethery to write award-winning nonfiction picture books, including Two Bobbies: A True Story of Hurricane Katrina, Friendship, and Survival. Kirby is hard at work on her next historical novel. Learn more about her at kirbylarson.com or read her blog at kirbyslane.blogspot.com.
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Renée Vaillancourt McGrath has worked at Montana Public Radio as a program host since 2002. Her background is in librarianship and she currently works as a freelance editor, blogger, and website developer. Check out more of her book reviews at reneesreads.com.

Young Adult Book Review: 'Road Trip' by Gary Paulsen and Jim Paulsen

Road Trip by Gary Paulsen
and Jim Paulsen
Wendy Lamb Books, 2013

Gary Paulsen's latest book was written with the help of his son Jim, a sculptor. The Paulsen family shares a love of dogs, and after Jim told Gary about his latest dog rescue, Gary wrote the first chapter of a story about a father and a son rescuing a homeless dog. He emailed it to Jim, and received another chapter in response. The father-son writing team continued in this fashion until the manuscript was complete, then handed it over to their editor to "tie together".

If I interpreted the Author's Note correctly, Gary Paulsen, well-known for his children's and young adult books about animals and wilderness, wrote the bulk of the story, while Jim wrote alternating short chapters from the family dog's perspective. The narrator of the main story is Ben, a fourteen-year-old who sets off on a road trip with his father to rescue a Border Collie that Ben hopes to call his own.

Ben's Dad hopes that the trip will provide an opportunity for him to bond with his son after he has quit his corporate job to start a risky business flipping houses. In a panic, Ben calls a friend to come along, and they pick up several other travelers along the way. The trip turns into an adventure with a little bit of danger and a whole lot of healing taking place en route.

The chances of several strangers being willing to tag along without notice on a two-day trip are about the same as the likelihood that a police officer would agree to drag race the motley crew after stopping them for speeding (which also happens in the book). Nonetheless, the characters are likeable, and the story moves along at a clip pace.

This isn't one of Paulsen's best works (my eight-year old daughter wasn't engaged enough by the first few chapters to continue reading to the end), but it will likely find a following with pre-teen boys who will appreciate it for being a fun and easy read.
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Gary Paulsen is the distinguished author of many critically acclaimed books for young people, including three Newbery Honor Books. He won the Margaret A. Edwards Award for his lifetime achievement in young adult literature. He divides his time between his home in Alaska, his ranch in New Mexico, and his sailboat on the Pacific Ocean. You can visit him on the web at GaryPaulsen.com

Jim Paulsen is a sculptor and former elementary school teacher. He lives with his wife and two children in Minnesota. Road Trip is his first book.
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Renée Vaillancourt McGrath has worked at Montana Public Radio as a program host since 2002. Her background is in librarianship and she currently works as a freelance editor, blogger, and website developer. Check out more of her book reviews at reneesreads.com.