Premier Independent Bookseller/Coffeehouse in Sauk Valley
COVID-19 2021
COVID-19 fight update:
Congratulations and thanks to all of you who are fully vaccinated and now boosted. This has made a big difference in the fight against this hard-to-understand virus.
As of 28 February 2022, please come in, shop, sit (or stand) and converse without requiring to cover your nose & mouth.
BUT, please respect our service team and fellow patrons who may want to continue to wear face coverings, keep a physical distance or do the safest thing for their & their loved ones' health & safety.
How to physically distance: Just stay 8 books laid end-to-end from your fellow booklover!
Whether you think the devastating effects of this novel coronavirus have been overblown or not, let's all work as a community to stay safe and keep our local businesses here for you!
“Eleanor doesn't have much going for her. Life with her mom and stepdad is minute-to-minute scary and the kids at her new school have singled her out for torment. Somehow into this reality comes Park, who is just trying to keep his head down and not make waves at home or school. These two misfits fall in love to a 1980s soundtrack. With humor and unflinching candor, Rowell propels readers through a story of first love and the courage it takes to keep going when all the odds are against you.”
— Julie Wilson, The Bookworm, Omaha, NE
Description
#1 New York Times Best Seller!
"Eleanor & Park reminded me not just what it's like to be young and in love with a girl, but also what it's like to be young and in love with a book."-John Green, The New York Times Book Review
Bono met his wife in high school, Park says. So did Jerry Lee Lewis, Eleanor answers. I'm not kidding, he says. You should be, she says, we're 16. What about Romeo and Juliet? Shallow, confused, then dead. I love you, Park says. Wherefore art thou, Eleanor answers. I'm not kidding, he says. You should be.
Set over the course of one school year in 1986, this is the story of two star-crossed misfits-smart enough to know that first love almost never lasts, but brave and desperate enough to try. When Eleanor meets Park, you'll remember your own first love-and just how hard it pulled you under.
A New York Times Best Seller! A 2014 Michael L. Printz Honor Book for Excellence in Young Adult Literature Eleanor & Park is the winner of the 2013 Boston Globe Horn Book Award for Best Fiction Book. A Publishers Weekly Best Children's Book of 2013 A New York Times Book Review Notable Children's Book of 2013 A Kirkus Reviews Best Teen Book of 2013 An NPR Best Book of 2013
About the Author
RAINBOW ROWELL lives in Omaha, Nebraska, with her family. She's the author of the Simon Snow Trilogy (Carry On,Wayward Son, Any Way the Wind Blows), Landline, Fangirl, Eleanor & Park, and Attachments.
Praise For…
“Funny, hopeful, foulmouthed, sexy, and tear-jerking, this winning romance will captivate teen and adult readers alike.” —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
“Rowell keeps things surprising, and the solution maintains the novel's delicate balance of light and dark.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“The pure, fear-laced, yet steadily maturing relationship Eleanor and Park develop is urgent and breathtaking and, of course, heartbreaking, too.” —Booklist (starred review)
“An honest, heart-wrenching portrayal of imperfect but unforgettable love.” —The Horn Book (winner of The Horn Book Award for fiction)
"Rowell’s humor, tenderness, and sense of detail are extraordinary." —Curtis Sittenfeld for The New Yorker
“Eleanor & Park is a breathless, achingly good read about love and outsiders.” —Stephanie Perkins, New York Times bestselling author of Anna and the French Kiss and Lola and the Boy Next Door
“Sweet, gritty, and affecting . . . Rainbow Rowell has written an unforgettable story about two misfits in love. This debut will find its way into your heart and stay there.” —Courtney Summers, author of This Is Not a Test and Cracked Up to Be
“In her rare and surprising exploration of young misfit love, Rowell shows us the beauty in the broken.” —Stewart Lewis, author of You Have Seven Messages
“Eleanor & Park reminded me not just what it's like to be young and in love with a girl, but also what it's like to be young and in love with a book.” —John Green, The New York Times Book Review
“Rowell's writing swings from profane to profound, but it's always real and always raw.” —Petra Mayer for NPR Books
Thank you for your support!
For those of you not interested in ordering from that largest river in South America that rivals the Mississippi and the Nile, but BoF is out of stock at the warehouse, try our new affiliate, Bookshop.org, started by a Columbia University MFA who just wants to help the Indies out a bit while being able to put a meal on the table for himself and others.
We Now Are Affiliated with Hummingbird, a Great eBook Resource!
You can still buy titles in other formats (hardcover, paperback, audio CDs) with a Books on First gift card as well as buy a Books on First giftcard which we will send especially to that lucky recipient (free postage!).
... Throughout the month of July, we are having a Where's Waldo hunt in Dixon! Waldo will be at 24 Local Dixon locations and two Waldos will be at Books on First! Find the one with the difference and get an extra stamp!
That'll help get 10 stamps or signatures for a temporary Waldo tatoo AND $1 off coupon for a WALDO book AND a Waldo's in Dixon pin.
Get 20+ stamps and get your name in the drawing for big prizes at our PARTY on Saturday, 30Jul, 11am.
There are door prizes, too, a Dixon fun hunt card from Dixon Main Street Chamber of Commerce. Bring your stamp card if you hadn't done so already.
We are always delighted when someone sees a movie in the book, because now, millions of more people know about the book! It might have been a great film or it might have been a total dud.
But, read the book yourself to see just how good or different the original is!
“Eleanor doesn't have much going for her. Life with her mom and stepdad is minute-to-minute scary and the kids at her new school have singled her out for torment. Somehow into this reality comes Park, who is just trying to keep his head down and not make waves at home or school. These two misfits fall in love to a 1980s soundtrack. With humor and unflinching candor, Rowell propels readers through a story of first love and the courage it takes to keep going when all the odds are against you.”
