The Perks of Being a Wallflower

The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chboksy (Pocket Books) ISBN: 978-0-671-02734-6

Plot Summary

The narrator writes a series of epistles under the pseudonym Charlie (he notes that all names have been changed to protect the innocent) to an unnamed person.  He recounts his freshman year of high school -- beginning not long after the death of his friend Michael.  Eventually, he makes new friends with Patrick (aka Nothing) and Patrick's step-sister Sam.  The work is about initiation along many fronts.  In school Charlie is being given special attention by his advanced English teacher in the form of extra assignments (a series of coming of age novels like To Kill A Mockingbird and Catcher in the Rye -- the books seem to get progressively more challenging).  With his friends Patrick and Sam, Charlie takes drugs for the first time and starts smoking.  Through his friends he has what seems to be his first romantic relationship with Mary Elizabeth.  Charlie gets his driver's license.  And ends up taking his sister to the abortion clinic.  Charlie is in love with Sam. This love and his love for his dead aunt Helen cause most of the novel's conflict.  And suppressed memories of his aunt inform the climactic scene of the novel.

Critical Evaluation

The novel's prose is slight and has a disjointed quality that bespeaks Charlie's ailment before he even realizes what it is.  From early on Charlie has a tendency to suppress detail, which foreshadows his repressed memories.  For example, Charlie/Chbosky writes:

Sam and Patrick drove me to the party that night, and I sat in the middle of Sam's pickup truck.  Same loves her pickup because I think it reminds her or her dad.  The feeling I had happened when Sam told Patrick to find a station on the radio.  And he kept getting commercials.  And commercials.  And a really bad song about love that had the word "baby" in it.  And then more commercials.  And finally he found this really amazing song about this boy, and we all got quiet. (Chbosky, 1999, p. 33)

Charlie's misplaced modifiers and lack of specificity struck me as noting a kind of aphasia or developmental delay.  When we later learn that Charlie has been haunted not merely by the death of his friend Michael but also abuse from his aunt Helen that he'd repressed, the language makes sense.  The lack of concrete detail paints a picture of a person sliding or falling through life in a passive way.  The language does more to establish Charlie's persona than any specific thing he says or that other characters say about him.   

Reader’s Annotation

After Charlie's friend Michael dies, he finds himself feeling alone.  He doesn't fit in at home and has few friends at school.  At a football game, he approaches Patrick from his shop class, and his whole life changes.  He suddenly finds himself with friends and new interests.  Eventually with help from Patrick's step-sister Sam, Charlie also discovers the thing that's been hindering his development.

Information about the author

From Simon and Schuster's webpage: 

Stephen Chbosky wrote and directed the feature film adaptation of his novel, The Perks of Being a Wallflower. A native of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, he graduated from the University of Southern California’s Filmic Writing Program. His first film, The Four Corners of Nowhere, premiered at Sundance Film Festival. He wrote the screenplay for the critically acclaimed film adaptation of Rent; and co-created the post-apocalyptic television drama, Jericho. He also edited Pieces, a collection of short stories for Pocket Books. (Simon and Schuster, 2013).

Genre

Coming of Age/LGBT

Curriculum Ties

The book is part of  the California Department of Education's Recommended Literature database: http://www3.cde.ca.gov/reclitlist/displaytitle.aspx?pid=40582

Because the book is included on the recommended reading list, it will likely meet the standards of section 3.0 Literary Response and Analysis of the California English Language Arts Content Standards -- Curriculum Frameworks.  This section reads, "Students read and respond to historically or culturally significant works of literature that reflect and enhance their studies of history and social science. They conduct indepth analyses of recurrent patterns and themes. The selections in Recommended Literature, Kindergarten Through Grade Twelve illustrate the quality and complexity of the materials to be read by students" (p. 67). 

It also has close ties to Catcher in the Rye.  The narrators affect a similar voice (both say, "really" quite a lot).  Charlie also reads a number of work often considered staples of late middle school or early high school education (including Catcher in the Rye, The Stranger, The Fountainhead, Naked Lunch, On the Road, and Hamlet among others).  Ties could be drawn from this book to any of these.  (Charlie's teacher notes that all the books he gives Charlie have similar narrators, and Chbosky makes a clear attempt to write a book in the same vein). 

Booktalking Ideas

1) Write the book talk as though it is a letter to the teens listening.
2) Open the book talk by playing the Smith's song Asleep
3) Play up the fact that a movie has recently been produced based on the novel.

Reading Level/Interest Age

The main character is a  freshman in high school, suggesting that the book might be appropriate for 9th grade readers and up.  The use of strong language and depictions of drugs, alcohol and sex also suggest this.  The book will likely interest readers of the same age.

Challenge Issues

Drugs; alcohol; language; sex; molestation; prominent gay characters; violence; abortion.

I would openly greet any patron who presented a challenge to the work, giving them ample time to detail their complaint.  I would listen attentively.  To respond to these challenges I would have some reviews of the work on hand.   I would be prepared to explain that as a public institution libraries "cannot limit access on the basis of age or other characteristics" (ALA, 1999).  I would have copies of the library's collection policy on hand.  I would be prepared to politely discuss that parents can control what their children are exposed to by coming to the library with them and examining books they check out.  If the Teen Advisory Group had written reviews of the book I'd have them handy.  While it may be of little comfort to certain parents, I would also be prepared to discuss my staunch support of intellectual freedom and abhorrence of censorship.  As a last resort, I would be sure to keep copies or a reconsideration form on hand.

I would discuss this particular book's presence on the California Department of Education's recommended reading list.   

Why did you include this book in the titles you selected?

The book was recently adapted into a film starring Emma Watson as Sam.

References

American Library Association. (1999). Strategies and tips for dealing with challenges to library materials. Retrieved from http://www.ala.org/advocacy/banned/challengeslibrarymaterials/copingwithchallenges/strategiestips 

California Department of Education. (2009). English-Language Arts content standards for California public schools: Kindergarten through grade twelve. Retrieved from www.cde.ca.gov/be/st/ss/documents/elacontentstnds.pdf 

Simon and Schuster. (2013). Authors: Stephen Chbosky. Retrieved from http://authors.simonandschuster.com/Stephen-Chbosky/1843916