YA Novel: The Perks of Being a Wallflower

My group read the Perks of Being a Wallflower, by Stephen Chbosky over break and to be honest it is one of the best young adult novels I have ever read. In many ways it is a typical coming of age story. The protagonist, Charlie, is entering his first year of high school friendless and alone. He is extremely introverted and quiet. Eventually he makes friends with Sam and Patrick, who are brother and sister and both seniors, at a football game. Throughout the course of the year Charlie gets close with them. They show him music and bring him to parties and help him begin to break out of his shell. By the end of the novel, Charlie has grown up a lot.

What this novel did that made it stand out to me was the way it portrayed the characters. The story is told from Charlie's perspective through letters he writes to "you," a recipient unknown to him. The letters act as a journal of sorts. The other characters are shown as being extremely human. Patrick and Sam are somewhat idolized by Charlie because they took him in when no one else did, but they have their struggles as well. Patrick is gay and is in love with the star quarterback on the football team. They have to be together in secret because the quarterback has a father who is extremely homophobic. Sam used to be taken advantage of by older high schoolers who would get her drunk at parties back when she was a freshman. Charlie's sister gets hit by her boyfriend and then gets pregnant and Charlie goes with her to get an abortion. Now that I am rereading this description, it makes it sound like this novel is just one edgy teenage issue after another. In actuality I think this novel does an excellent job of presenting realistic characters and a believable plot. Everyone in Charlie's life goes through ups and downs, struggles and successes. That is what makes them so human. Even Charlie himself struggles with figuring out what the right thing to do is. Because the novel is written from his perspective, he almost seems impartial much of the time but Charlie is constantly learning, questioning, growing, and making mistakes.

Through Charlie's questioning thought process, we are shown the way he looks at the world. He does not simply accept things as they are, he is always questioning why. I loved reading this novel because it shows the light and the dark in equal measure. There is no easy right or wrong answer in the vast majority of life. For adolescents with developing brains, it is helpful to know that the most important thing is to put yourself out of your comfort zone and try. Mistakes are just a part of the journey.