The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

Chbosky, Stephen. The Perks of Being a Wallflower. New York: Pocket Books, 1999.

We don’t know who Charlie is writing the letters to, but we read them because they’re touching, and because they’re real, and because they’re rock and roll.

AWARDS

ALA 2002 Best Books for Young Adults

REVIEW

This is the first epistolary to be reviewed on youthreads, which means a novel told in letters. Charlie is a freshman in high school learning about friendship, mixtapes, and drugs. He excels at English but he’s a wallflower, as the title suggests, preferring to watch and listen. He struggles to understand the feelings of the girl he’s in love with, to get close to his family, and to know who he wants to be. We never find out who Charlie is writing his letters to, but by the end even Charlie is surprised to learn the biggest secret about himself. For the music alone, read this book.

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