One piece of the Adolescent Development class that I am taking this semester includes reading three young adult books with our PLC groups. The first book my PLC group chose was Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell. Eleanor & Park is a book about the relationship between two teenagers as they are facing the stresses and realities of high school. Rowell cleverly intertwines their two stories, bringing the reader to understand the complexities of their upbringings and how these upbringings have affected them mentally and emotionally. Eleanor lives with her mother, younger siblings, and her physically abusive, alcoholic stepfather. In a very low income house Eleanor constantly lives on the edge, trying to avoid her step father at all costs. Just down the street Park lives in a healthier environment with his parents and his younger brother. Between the combined experiences of the two teenagers, this book provides windows and mirrors for each reader making it easy to identify with the characters stories. As we have talked about in class, providing windows and mirrors for students is important because it allows adolescents to see themselves in literature while learning about different family situations at the same time. Within Eleanor & Park, Rowell covers many themes that are prevalent to young adolescent life.
Themes in Eleanor & Park
- Family
- Appearance
- Bullying
- Abuse
- Isolation
- Race
- Relationships
- Love
While some of the themes used by Rowell could be seen as inappropriate for young readers, it is my opinion that exposure to these difficult topics, under the right circumstances and with the proper support, can help adolescents feel less isolated. As educators, it is partly our responsibility introduce and be able to discuss difficult themes with our students. This being said, parents are not always supportive of topics, such as abuse, being taught to their children. Despite this, we must help parents understand that these topics are more common in the lives of their own children than they often realize. And by doing that, discussing these themes with adolescents in an appropriate setting we are providing them with the opportunity to learn though others experiences'. While I feel that the themes in Eleanor & Park are appropriate for adolescents, I was shocked by the extent of the language used by Rowell. It seems to me that the same ideas could have been expressed without the use of such vulgar language. I would be interested to learn more about the types of language used in YA literature and the effect this language has on the adolescent readers.
I would recommend Eleanor & Park adolescents and adults alike. It is an excellent read that helped me gain a deeper understanding of just how complex and difficult the years as an adolescent can be.
Autumn,
ReplyDeleteThis was a great post. I especially liked the detail you used to summarize the book thus far. I thought the imagery you provided to be particularly insightful. The connection you made between windows and mirrors, and students was very helpful when contemplating your post. Often times, teens are going through different realities whilst existing in the same environment. Connecting those parallels awesome!
I loved this post. I really liked how you mentioned the importance of the dual plot and how you connected it to windows and mirrors. I think that this strategy is really beneficial in YA books. We learned earlier that YA books serve the purpose to show kids that they aren't going through their difficulties alone and to show introduce them to difficulties in life that they might not be going through themselves. Windows and mirrors is a really effective way for the author to succeed in doing this.
ReplyDeleteI liked how you included some themes that the book covers, as they are similar to many other YA novels. I think these topics of love, relationships, and isolation are felt, at least to some extent, my most adolescents and are important to acknowledge. Doing so through literature, such as your book, can be an effective way to talk about problems students may be struggling with. I'd love to give it a read!
ReplyDeleteI love that you explore a variety of perspectives on this book--parents, teachers, and adolescents. In one of our conversations, someone said that adolescents are really good at knowing what is good for them. At the same time, I appreciate your point about the importance of support and appropriate settings to process these issues. Do you think classrooms can be such settings?
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