Eleanor & Park (Rainbow Rowell)

Title: Eleanor & Park

Author: Rainbow Rowell

Publisher:  St. Martin’s Griffin

Length: 328

Rating: 4/5

Set over the course of one school year in 1986, this is the story of two star-crossed misfits who fight bullies, rejection, and countless other obstacles in their desperate battle for a love that lasts.

This book is beautiful. And tragic. It’s Perks of Being a Wallflower meets Romeo and Juliet with a classic 1980s soundtrack. It will make your heart ache. You will cry. But you will also want more than anything for the love these two 16 year olds have for each other to survive.

Tragic beauty usually isn’t my thing, but what I loved most about this book is how real the relationship between these two was. It takes them forever just to hold hands, and there is magic in the hand-holding. In so many YA books, it’s easy to forget the characters are so young, but in Eleanor and Park, you really feel like these characters are that young (and you remember how you felt at that age.)

This book is worth the hype, and worth the read. Bring tissues. 

If He Had Been With Me (Laura Nowlin)

Title: if he had been with me

Author: Laura Nowlin

Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire

Length: 328

Rating: 2.5/5

Autumn and Finny have been inseparable since birth, but have grown apart during middle school and rarely speak in high school. After a terrible accident, Autumn reflects on her relationship with Finny, and how everything could have been different.

While I loved the middle of this book, I hated the beginning and the end. Why ruin such a great love story? Why do you have to make it Romeo and Juliet? Yes, one of the major themes is tragedy, but I don’t fully agree with Autumn that tragedy can be beautiful. (There was so much ranting after I finished this book- I would have flung it across the room if it hadn’t been 2am).

I disliked these parts so much because there was so much good in the book, and I felt it had been wasted. The book is set in St. Louis, one of my favorite places (and a rare setting for a YA book). It’s a terrific coming-of-age story that I couldn’t put down. Autumn was quirky and funny, and wore a tiara, because she wanted to. And Finny is the ultimate boy-next-door who you can’t help but love.

But on the other side, tragedy looms everywhere, teen pregnancy is rampart, and I was left way too disgruntled. In my opinion, this book was trying too hard to be great, and it got in the way of actually being great. 

Son of the Mob (Gordon Korman)

Title: Son of the Mob

Author: Gordon Korman

Publisher: Hyperion

Length: 262 pages

Rating: 3.5/5

It’s Romeo and Juliet, with Romeo (Vince) as the son of a mob boss and Juliet (Kendra) as the daughter of the FBI agent trying to put the mob boss away. Vince wants no part in the family business, but the more he tries to hide it from Kendra, the deeper in he gets.

This book is a little older (when did 2002 become old? Weird!) which is perhaps why it felt like a breath of fresh air amongst the paranormals and dystopias permeating this blog. Not that I have anything against the current theme of YA lit, it’s just that sometimes you need to shake it up a little. Add to this the male narrator, and you’ve got yourself a fun book about star-crossed lovers, Godfather-style.

Also included: moral dilemmas, first love, and a slimy character named Jimmy Rat found in a car trunk. Overall, a fun read that would interest male and female readers and is appropriate for a younger crowd as well.