Chbosky, Stephen. Perks of Being a Wallflower. New York. Pocket Books: 1999.
I decided to read this book because mostly all my friends have read it. After peeking through the pages of the book, I thought that it would be interesting to read. I'm unsure of what type of book this is but I think it falls under teen fiction. I wasn't sure who the letters were being sent to or where it takes place but the letters were sent during the early 1990's.
Plot: The main character is a freshmen boy named Charlie who didn't have as many friends. The book is a collection of his letters to a friend. Within his letters, we learn about his struggle with the loss of a friend and an aunt. Through his letters, he learns a lot about himself, dealing with love, alienation, depression, mental instability and other things that teens encounter in high school. Which is why Charlie is a wallflower. However with the help of his friends Samantha and Patrick, he comes to terms with life and learns to interact.
Character: Charlie is a freshman struggling with the transition to high school. Throughout the book, I saw that Charlie didn't really know which path to take in life and just went with the flow of life. I think the author gave a good perspective on who the characters are and their personal growths throughout the story. It made it feel more realistic.
Evaluation: I think this was the type of book I would've read when I was a freshman. However I liked how the author portrayed its characters and formed the book into a series of letters. But I can't say that I really liked this book because I thought it was a "tween" type of book. I guess I would recommend this book to others who enjoy reading this type of book.
Author: Stephen Chbosky was born on January 25, 1970 and is an American novelist. The Perks of Being a Wallflower was his first novel. He is also a screenwriter and a film director. He wrote the screenplay for the 2005 film Rent and is co-creator, executive producer and a writer of the television series Jericho.
Labels: Book Report