What do Elena and Eugene have in common?

Elena and Eugene share a love for books, but they also share the same feelings of alienation from society, their families, and their peers.
In truth, both are lonely individuals. At school, Elena finds that she doesn't fit in among her school peers. As the lone Puerto Rican in her class, she feels marginalized. Additionally, the black girls excel at skipping rope, and they often make fun of Elena for her lackluster skipping abilities. At home, Elena must contend with an insensitive and often abrasive mother.
She relates that she once attended her grandmother's funeral in Puerto Rico but found it difficult to relate to the people around her. There were many cousins, uncles, and aunts, but Elena remembers feeling lost. Meanwhile, Elena's mother proved to be of little comfort at the time, for she was grieving the death of her own mother.
When Eugene moves in, Elena notices his sense of alienation from his family. It looks familiar to her because it is also what she is experiencing. Eugene's family never seems to sit down for dinner together. His mother often eats alone, while Eugene is nowhere to be seen during mealtimes. Meanwhile, Eugene's father never makes an appearance at the kitchen table.
Elena notices that Eugene only sits at the kitchen table when he's reading. Because Eugene spends hours reading, Elena feels a sense of camaraderie with him. Both Eugene and Elena also have unhappy, distracted mothers, so each can relate to the other's experiences in this area.

On the face of it, it would seem that the two would-be love birds don't have a whole lot in common: Elena is Puerto-Rican; Eugene is a white Southerner. But they get along very well all the same. In a way, Elena and Eugene are outsiders at Public School Number 13 and so find themselves naturally drawn to each other. From her bedroom, Elena can see into Eugene's family's kitchen, and she fantasizes about sitting down with Eugene at his kitchen table, drinking coffee and talking about books. And it's a love of books that brings Elena and Eugene together. Eugene wants Elena to come over to his house so they can study American history together. They also plan to walk to the public library, a further indication that they both have a love of learning as well as reading.