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"Once in a while, a novel comes along that becomes a generational touchstone. The Perks of Being a Wallflower is one of those books." —R. J. Palacio, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Wonder
This #1 New York Times bestselling coming-of-age story with millions of copies in print takes a sometimes heartbreaking, often hysterical, and always honest look at high school in all its glory.
The critically acclaimed debut novel from Stephen Chbosky follows observant "wallflower" Charlie as he charts a course through the strange world between adolescence and adulthood. First dates, family drama, and new friends. Sex, drugs, and The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Devastating loss, young love, and life on the fringes. Caught between trying to live his life and trying to run from it, Charlie must learn to navigate those wild and poignant roller-coaster days known as growing up.
A #1 New York Times bestseller for more than a year, adapted into a major motion picture starring Logan Lerman and Emma Watson (and written and directed by the author), and an American Library Association Best Book for Young Adults (2000) and Best Book for Reluctant Readers (2000), this novel for teen readers (or wallflowers of more-advanced age) will make you laugh, cry, and perhaps feel nostalgic for those moments when you, too, tiptoed onto the dance floor of life.
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Creators
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Publisher
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Release date
September 19, 2017 -
Formats
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OverDrive Listen audiobook
- ISBN: 9781508251552
- File size: 184212 KB
- Duration: 06:23:46
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Languages
- English
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Levels
- Lexile® Measure: 720
- Text Difficulty: 3
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Reviews
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Who are those lanky, sad-eyed boys hovering around the edges of parties? This epistolary novel spotlights the world of the brilliant but troubled Charlie, who chronicles his freshman year in a Pennsylvania high school. Johnny Heller lends credibility and urgency as he captures the pitch and tone of a teenager barely out of puberty. Particularly poignant passages include Charlie's descriptions of his relationship with his older brother, a football star; his empathy for his lovelorn older sister; and the hopelessness of his crush on the beautiful Sam. Heller is especially affecting as Charlie deals with sex, drugs, and the heartbreaking truths of his childhood. R.O. (c) AudioFile 2006, Portland, Maine -
February 1, 1999
A trite coming-of-age novel that could easily appeal to a YA readership, filmmaker Chbosky's debut broadcasts its intentions with the publisher's announcement that ads will run on MTV. Charlie, the wallflower of the title, goes through a veritable bath of bathos in his 10th grade year, 1991. The novel is formatted as a series of letters to an unnamed "friend," the first of which reveals the suicide of Charlie's pal Michael. Charlie's response--valid enough--is to cry. The crying soon gets out of hand, though--in subsequent letters, his father, his aunt, his sister and his sister's boyfriend all become lachrymose. Charlie has the usual dire adolescent problems--sex, drugs, the thuggish football team--and they perplex him in the usual teen TV ways. He hangs out with a group of seniors, among whom are Patrick and Samantha. Patrick is gay, and Charlie learns about gay. Sam is pretty, and Charlie learns about heartbreak. Sam is, alas, going out with Craig. Charlie goes out with the uppity Mary Elizabeth. Patrick goes with Brad but breaks up with him when Brad's father discovers their relationship. Into these standard teenage issues Chbosky infuses a droning insistence on Charlie's supersensitive disposition. Charlie's English teacher and others have a disconcerting tendency to rhapsodize over Charlie's giftedness, which seems to consist of Charlie's unquestioning assimilation of the teacher's taste in books. In the end we learn the root of Charlie's psychological problems, and we confront, with him, the coming rigors of 11th grade, ever hopeful that he'll find a suitable girlfriend and increase his vocabulary.
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