How Do You Know When You Love Someone?

I read Eleanor and Park in about a day after grabbing it from my local library.  I grabbed it on a whim because it keeps showing up on "You Should Read These Books!" lists, and I wondered if it was as good as everyone kept insinuating it was.  It is a great book, but not one I closed at the end with a grin .  It's good in the way that it makes you sit and think about your relationships.  What are the people you're close to you hiding?

Eleanor is hiding a lot.  She's just been able to move back in with her mother, her mother's husband, Richie (NOT a good person), and her four younger siblings. Richie is a wife-beater, his children are terrified of him, and he's already kicked Eleanor out once--she landed on a friend of her mother's couch for a year.  Her clothes are obvious hand me downs and thrift store (nothing wrong with it!) but she wears who she is well.  Her most distinguishing feature is the crazy red hair she has.

Park, on the other hand, has a pretty nice family.  His mom is Korean, his father a small giant, and his younger brother seems to be following after his father.  There are a few fissures in the family too, but all in all, their life is smooth.  He's been in taekwondo since he was in kindergarten and he wears a lot of black.

On her first day of school, Eleanor ends up sitting next to Park.  They spend weeks sharing a bus seat but not talking.  Park notices Eleanor reading his comics, and their friendship, then their relationship starts.  It's a secret relationship, though, as Eleanor is afraid of what will happen if her mom and Richie find out.  While Park's mother is initially not entirely thrilled with rEleanor, they end up building a friendship of their own.  And when Eleanor is in trouble, she runs to Park.

The book makes several allusions to young love in the first few chapters, especially with their English teacher discussing Romeo and Juliet, which stays fresh in a reader's mind as their relationship is unfolding.  But there's a bigger question, I think, that comes out of the book.  How do you know, especially as teenagers, that you love someone?  I think the way that Eleanor and Park's relationship played out is a good version.  They didn't move particularly fast--I've seen snails go faster-- but it was steady and strong.  When Eleanor told Park everything, his first instinct was to help her, because he cared that much about her.

It makes a girl want a good relationship of her own.

Ah well.  When it's supposed to happen it will!  Go read a book (maybe this one?) and have a great weekend!  I'm already working on next week's books!