Why does the narrator like eugene even before she meets him?

She saw that he spent a lot of time reading, like her. She feels as though he is also the perfect example of what a typical, "normal" American kid should be. She also wants to feel that normalcy. She says that she also feels as if she has a connection with the house Eugene and his family move into.

a low four-wheeled open carriage of a kind formerly used in russia.