Published: 1999
Pages: 213
Genre: Young Adult
I've had this book on my to-read list for a long time. I'd heard it was good, but the plot seemed somewhat boring and I was slightly turned off by the fact that MTV published it (MTV publishes books?). However, after being bombarded with previews for the movie version, I decided it didn't look too bad and I always prefer to read the book before I see the movie.
So, The Perks of Being a Wallflower follows a "wallflower" named Charlie who is just starting high school after his best friend committed suicide the previous year. Then he meets a pair of senior step-siblings (Sam and Patrick) who sort of take Charlie under their wing. The story unfolds through letters that Charlie writes to an anonymous penpal.
I could relate a lot to Charlie in the beginning because my best friend died (although not via suicide) when I was 12 and just entering high school (we didn't have a middle school - high school was 7-12th grade). I was already very introverted and was very much a wallflower. However, I did not have "cool" senior friends to help bring me back out of my shell. I think I would have loved this book when I was in high school.
Although I liked it overall, some of it was kind of over the top. Like Charlie's crying. My god, that kid cried every other page. He's not 10 - he's 15! I'm not saying that boys shouldn't cry or anything, but NO ONE should cry as much as that poor kid. Also, the ending was really, really unexpected and I didn't think it really fit with the rest of the book.
I'm looking forward to seeing the movie adaptation now.
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