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1-Page Summary of Eleanor and Park

Overall Summary

In Eleanor and Park, we were introduced to a young teenager named Park who is half-Korean. He’s somewhat of an outcast at school because he prefers to read comics or listen to music than make new friends. However, his life changes when he sees a girl get on the bus one day.

Eleanor is a target for bullies in many ways. She dresses differently and has red hair, which attracts attention from people who pick on her. However, Park befriends Eleanor by letting her sit with him on the bus one day. He comes from a loving home while she lives with an abusive stepfather at home.

The two quickly become friends. The mix-tapes and comic books they share with each other help strengthen their bond. They soon discover that what they feel for each other is stronger than either of them expected.

As Eleanor and Park’s relationship grows, they become more upset over lewd messages being left on her notebook. The two are unable to figure out who is leaving them the notes until one of the messages angers Park so much that he decides to keep a closer eye on things.

Eleanor can’t hang out with boys, so she lies to her mom that she goes to a friend’s house every day after school. In reality, she spends time at Park’s house. They do homework together and have dinner together. It becomes increasingly apparent that they’re falling in love with each other.

After her first date with Park, Eleanor returns home to find that Richie has ransacked the house and scribbled lewd messages all over her stuff. She realizes that she has to run away because he’s dangerous.

Eleanor asks Park to help her get away from the abusive uncle. They travel to St. Paul so that she can live with her uncle, but she does not read his letters for several months. At the end of the book, it seems like he has moved on from Eleanor when he finally receives a postcard from her saying “enough”.

Chapter 1: Park

In the first chapter of the book, Park is riding to school on a bus. He’s listening to music on his Walkman in order to distract himself from other people on the bus who are making offensive remarks about his ethnicity.

Park’s bus stops to pick up a new passenger. A girl with red hair gets on and walks down the aisle, but no one gives her a seat. Park notices that she looks like an outcast and is too timid to ask for help. When it seems like she might cry, Park scoots over and offers her his seat even though he knows he will get teased by the other students for doing so.

Chapter 2: Eleanor

The second chapter begins with Eleanor sitting outside on the front steps of her school. She makes a mental checklist of things she can do to avoid riding the bus again, because it’s inconvenient for her mother and herself.

From Eleanor’s point of view, everyone on her bus is evil because they all left her hanging earlier that morning when she needed a seat. She even suspects that they had conspired to “kill” her in a past life. Her mother said that Richie could drive her to school, but she dreads this possibility more than riding the bus.

Chapter 3: Park

On the bus, Steve is waiting for Park to tease him for letting Eleanor sit next to him. However, Steve is too busy talking about martial arts with a fellow passenger and doesn’t notice that Park has been annoyed by having to look after Eleanor all day.

Park is glad that Eleanor is sitting next to him, because she will make it harder for bullies to target him. Park also remembers when he was in English class earlier today and how the students loved her recitation of a poem by Emily Dickinson. However, Park found the poem offensive.