Eleanor is one of the novel’s two narrators and protagonists, along with Park. She is fiery, impatient and closed-off because she has been deeply traumatized by years of poverty, abuse, and neglect at the hands of her stepfather, Richie (and to some degree, her mother, Sabrina)
Eleanor has a tough exterior which shields a deeply sensitive inner life. Eleanor finds herself isolated and bullied at her new school in Omaha, Nebraska—her unruly red hair and odd wardrobe (which includes men’s clothing, loud scarves, and beaded necklaces and bracelets stacked along her neck and wrists) make her the target of her peer’s taunts, but Eleanor’s inability to fit in at school is the least of her problems.