Headscratchers / Eleanor & Park

• So what actually happened to Eleanor's family at the end? It seems to imply that they left Richie, as they are no longer with him shortly after Eleanor wrote her letter to her mother telling her to leave. But then there's the question of where they went. They seem to be somewhere far away, as Ben is no longer in the same school as Josh. However, the chances of them being at St. Paul with Eleanor seem to be low, as Eleanor never talks about them after the letter. And there's also the fact that Richie won't let Eleanor's mom leave him...
  • Rainbow Rowell said they left not too long after Eleanor did, and that they went to live with Eleanor. This is implied in the book, as Park later noticed that all of the signs of Eleanor's siblings were gone and that Richie was living by himself.
  • They also could have spent time with her father or a shelter until they could get to Eleanor, as they know where she is but it would take time and money to reach her. It’s mentioned that Eleanor’s uncle went to get her things, so he could have tried to talk to Sabrina (who is his sister) about leaving Richie.
• Why the hell did Eleanor's bullies suddenly start being nice to Eleanor near the end of the book for no reason after spending most of the book tormenting her at school, and then face zero consequences for their past actions?
  • It was most likely a sympathy thing: they found out that Eleanor has an abusive stepfather, and considering how at least Tina has a Jerkass stepfather too, she and her friends decided to help Eleanor.
  • It’s a combination of Tina sympathizing due to her own stepfather, Richie having a negative reputation in the neighborhood (which is mentioned earlier by Park’s grandmother) and Even Evil Has Standards in general.
• Why would Eleanor get mad at Park because he dated Tina in the past? It was already done with and it was years before they met, so why would she care so much?
  • Probably jealousy? Or maybe she didn’t like the idea of someone she cares about having a history with someone who she hates?