This romance book shows the struggles that people face often unknown to the rest of the world.  Eleanor comes from a background of her parents being divorced and her having to take care of all her siblings. She lives with her mom who’s with an abusive man. She gets bullied at school and then later she meets Parker who’s popular and comes from a good family background. They share a seat on their bus and bond over comic books. They slowly fall in love.

Later, Eleanor’s mom's boyfriend goes around the town trying to find her. He tries to find out where she hangs out  and  and threatens to kill her.  Eleanor's bullies end up turning around and they help her hide out at their house. Later Parker steals his parent’s car and drives Eleanor away to a different place where she’d be safe. He gets caught but does it anyway.


Lessons from the book:

1. Small acts of kindness, like including someone who feels left out, can make a huge difference in someone else's life. When Park lets Eleanor sit next to him on the bus, it let Eleanor feel good and it became the beginning of their deep connection.

2. Don't judge people by their appearance: Eleanor looks very different from the other kids at school so people judge her for it and bully her. 

3. It takes courage to be yourself: Eleanor refuses to change herself even when she was bullied. Staying true to yourself builds inner strength.