The Perks of Being a Wallflower

the perks of being a wallflower by stephen chbosky

December 20, 2010

Dear Friend,

I am writing to you because I know you will listen and understand what I am trying to say.  I picked up this book because a 9th grade student recommended it to me.  It is a epistolary novel written to a unknown person by a 9th grade student named Charlie.  Charlie is the youngest of three children and has suffered his share of tragedy.  Charlie is tragically wonderful and unique.  He will make your heart skip.

Truly this novel is very emotional, powerful and unique.  Charlie wiggled his way into my heart and hasn't let go yet just like he did with the friends he acquired.  The perks of being a wallflower is about Charlie's first experiences of high school, of falling in love, his first kiss, his first dance, his first time using drugs in the year 1991 and so much more.

According to urban dictionary.com a wallflower is:  
a type of loner. seemingly shy folks who no one really knows. often some of the most interesting people if one actually talks to them. cute.
In high school, I was a total wallflower just like Charlie.  I told my husband this and he agreed, I was definitely a wallflower.  I was a really deep thinker, very shy and would often sit by myself at parties.  I would still go to parties and like Charlie, I wanted to "participate" in life and I still do.  Maybe that is why I love Charlie's character so much because he is so real to me.  I think I have a crush on him.

Charlie has a special teacher named "Bill" who provides him with classic books about teenage boys.  Bill encourages Charlie to "participate" and he takes that advice.  This book is a testament to friendship and love.  It is a novel about life and the importance of taking part in it regardless of your inner demons.

A movie is being adapted from the novel due to be released in 2011.

This poem is on page 70-71 in the book and it brought tears to my eyes.  Still does.

Once on a yellow peice of paper with green lines he wrote a poem and he called it "chops" because that was the name of his dog and thats what it was all about his teacher gave him an A and a gold star and his mother hung it on the kitchen door and read it to his aunts. that was the year Father Tracy took all the kids to the zoo and he let them sing on the bus and his little sister was born with tiny nails and no hair and his mother and father kissed alot and the girl around the corner sent him a Valentine signed with a row of X's and he had to ask his father what the X's meant and his father always tucked him in bed at night and was always there to do it once on a piece of white paper with blue lines he wrote a poem he called it "Autumn" because that was the name of the season and that's what it was all about and his teacher gave him an A and asked him to write more clearly and his mother never hung it on the kithcen door beause of the new paint and the kids told him that Father Tracy smoked cigars and left butts on the pews and sometime they would burn holes that was the year his sister got glasses with thick lenses and black frames and the girl around the corner laughed when he asked her to go see santa claus and the kids told him why his mother and father kissed alot and his father never tucked him in bed at night and his father got mad when he cried for him to do it once on a paper torn from his notebook he wrote a poem and he called it "Innocence: A Question" because that was the question about his girl and thats what it was all about and his professor gave him an A and a strange steady look and his mother never hung it on the kitchen door because he never showed her that was the year Father Tracy died and he forgot how the end of the Apostles's Creed went and he caught his sister making out on the back porch and his mother and father never kissed or even talked and the girl around the corner wore too much make up that made him cough when he kissed her but he kissed her anyway becuase it was the thing to do and at 3 am he tucked himself into bed his father snoring soundly that's why on the back of a brown paper bag he tried another poem and he called it "Absolutely Nothing" because that's what it was really all about and he gave himself an A and a slash on each damned wrist and he hung it on the bathroom door because this time he didnt think he could reach the kitchen---- Perks Of Being A Wallflower Cover