Portopolio

Eleanor Douglas is beginning 10th grade. She is the oldest in a family of two girls and three boys who live with their mother and stepfather, Richie, in a tiny two-bedroom house. The children share one bedroom. There is one bathroom, and Richie has removed the door and will not allow a curtain for privacy. Richie is physically and emotionally abusive to their mother and often drunk. The children live in terror of him. Eleanor does not own a toothbrush or properly fitting clothes. She patches her clothes in bright colors, wears ribbons in her hair, and creates strange clothing combinations, over which her fellow students bully her. Eleanor has just returned after sleeping on the couch of her mother’s high school friend, since Richie threw her out a year earlier. Park Sheridan has lived in Omaha his whole life. While his family is not affluent, and his parents come from very different backgrounds, his home is filled with love. While his father is tall and masculine, Park takes after his mother in appearance and is shorter than his younger brother. Park believes he is a disappointment and is unenthusiastic about taekwondo, which his father values. Park is instead interested in alternative music and comics. He feels insecure about his size and Asian heritage, despite getting along with the popular kids at school. On Eleanor's first day at her new school, the students find her weird. They rearrange their seats on the school bus to get her yelled at by the driver. When Eleanor is about to cry, Park rudely offers her a seat. They have a few classes together durin