Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell

Banned Books Week takes place the last week of September every year. It's a time to bring awareness of the banning and challenging of books that is still prevalent in our society. To support the freedom to read, I choose a banned/challenged book that I've never read before. Because of this, my review is slightly different, as I tend to focus on the reason it was banned or challenged for most of the review. For more information on Banned Books Week, visit ala.org.

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Publication date: 2013
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Pages: 325
My rating: 3 stars
Ages: 16+

New girl Eleanor is too different, with her wild curly, red hair and her men's shirts. Park is different too, but since his family has lived in town for generations, he can get away with it. When Eleanor sits next to Park on the bus, neither of them could have guessed how things would turn out.

Eleanor and Park was challenged on the basis of the profane language used throughout the novel. I won't lie, there was quite a bit of language (including the f-word), maybe a little more than *I* am comfortable with. But it's not up to me, or anyone, to control what society can read or consume. There is also some references to sex and sexual situations.

Despite the language, I think that the story that is told is important and heartbreaking. It's so much more than just learning to stand out and stand up. It's about being strong enough to know when to fight back or leave.

*I do not receive compensation from Amazon.