The Perks of Being a Wallflower

Spoiler Alert: The perks of being a wallflower outweigh the consequences - especially if you meet friends as crazy as you.

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Truly incredible. The story, in the form of a letter to the reader, is told and written by Charlie. Charlie, perhaps the most endearing character I've ever come across is a living contradiction. He is innocent yet experienced, sad yet happy at the same time. Charlie is hugely a parallel to Holden Caulfield of Catcher in the Rye. Although he's been through quite a bit, he is truly trying to "participate" and make a friend. He is very observant and is the titular "wallflower." He finally meets two friends in the form of Sam and Patrick, two seniors who aren't exactly popular. Patrick is gay, hilarious, and wonderfully unapologetic. He goes through some strife of his own, but eventually realizes who he is and puts it behind him. Sam, with whom Charlie is in love with, is beautiful inside and out. She is a light and speaks her mind. This isn't to say that she doesn't have faults of her own - but they just add to the characterization of a lovely human. This story was not a typical teen young adult novel. Although there are the almost universal themes of coming of age, such as sex, drug use, angst, belonging, family, and friendship, the story also explored some darker themes. These darker themes proved to be quite revealing about character and what they hide behind the surface - little do they know that a certain wallflower with a heart too good for his own good sees right through them. These themes include, abuse, violence, depression, self-harm, loss, guilt, grief, and addiction. Thinking of Charlie and how badly he wants to help everyone brings tears to my eyes, but there comes a point at which he must learn to take notice of himself as well; this proves to be his ultimate loss of innocence (although could be disputed because Charlie is put through a lot).The perspective of this book is something unique and definitely worth mentioning. It is revealed at the very beginning, that Charlie is writing a note to the reader always addressed: "Dear friend" and then ends "Love always, Charlie." As if our hearts couldn't go out to this boy any more. The letter form not only is more personal, detailed, and insightful, but gives a better sense of empathy, compassion, and places a certain responsibility on the readers' shoulders. That responsibility may vary for each reader, but for me the responsibility is to look out for real-life Charlies. To sit with the kid at lunch who is seemingly fine, to make sure kind gestures go a long way, and to welcome people with open arms - whether you know they need it or not.

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Favorite quotes: “We accept the love we think we deserve.” ~~ “So, this is my life. And I want you to know that I am both happy and sad and I'm still trying to figure out how that could be." ~~ “Things change. And friends leave. Life doesn't stop for anybody.” ~~ “And in that moment, I swear we were infinite.” ~~ “There's nothing like deep breaths after laughing that hard. Nothing in the world like a sore stomach for the right reasons.” ~~ “I would die for you. But I won't live for you.” ~~ “So, I guess we are who we are for a lot of reasons. And maybe we'll never know most of them. But even if we don't have the power to choose where we come from, we can still choose where we go from there. We can still do things. And we can try to feel okay about them.” ~~ “I think that if I ever have kids, and they are upset, I won't tell them that people are starving in China or anything like that because it wouldn't change the fact that they were upset. And even if somebody else has it much worse, that doesn't really change the fact that you have what you have.” ~~ “I am very interested and fascinated how everyone loves each other, but no one really likes each other.”

(P.S. There is also a deeply moving poem which Charlie recites however it doesn't fit here, it's entitled "Chops," I highly recommend you check it out (that is if you aren't going to read the book)).