eleanor & park by rainbow rowell

This has everything a young adult novel needs; a dysfunctional family, two likeable outsiders, an ineffectual Mom (and a charming one) first love (although it's a bit of a stretch to think that lack of seating on a school bus would be as affective as match.com) - all the good stuff.  For a good part of the time I thought I was reading Spinelli's Stargirl with a lot more edge and I loved that Eleanor wished she were more like Dicey Tillerman.  The language of the characters is just perfect as is their awkward attempts at romance - although I'm sure every young reader will wish their first kiss was like the one on pages 166-167.  It even has one of those great discussable endings - What do you think the three words on the postcard were?