Bibliographic Information
Publisher: MTV Books/Pocket Books
Publication year: 1999
ISBN: 978-0671027346
Reader’s Annotation
Charlie could have spent freshman year in high school as a wallflower, but he is quickly befriended by seniors Patrick and Sam. They accept him into their group and together the group takes a journey of love, loss, and self-discovery.
Plot Summary
Charlie starts his freshman year of high school alone but determined to remain positive, still reeling from his best friend Michael’s suicide the previous year. The 9th grade English teacher Mr. Anderson notices that Charlie is both gifted and reclusive, and attempts to draw him out of his shell by engaging him in conversations and assigning him extra book reports on books he thinks Charlie will find interesting. Charlie meets Patrick and Sam, seniors and step-siblings, who quickly befriend him and accept him into their group. Charlie starts attending parties with his older friends where he experiments with alcohol and drugs. He sees examples of several different kinds of relationships, from Patrick’s with closeted football player Brad, to his sister’s abusive boyfriend, to Sam and her unfaithful boyfriend. Charlie experiences a sexual awakening as well as strong feelings for Sam. As the school year draws to a close, Charlie contemplates the fact that all his friends will be graduating.
Critical Evaluation
Chbosky’s choice to write letters from Charlie’s point of view sets the tone in a unique way. Telling the story in diary entries would have produced a similar tone, but because Charlie is writing to someone he does not know reveals an important aspect of his personality. He does not want to keep his thoughts inside of his head. He wants to share his experiences with someone else, even a stranger, so that he does not feel so isolated. Charlie intends to send the letters one day and does not necessarily expect a response back when he does; he just wants a human connection, however tenuous, any way it is available. The reader gains all of this insight as soon as it becomes clear Charlie is writing letters to an anonymous stranger. These aspects of his personality become more concrete as the novel goes on, but revealing them within the first few pages is an important and successful literary choice on Chbosky’s part.
Author Information
Stephen Chbosky was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on January 25, 1972, to Fred, a former CFO consultant, and Lea, a tax preparer. He grew up in Upper St. Clair, graduating from the local high school. He received his Bachelor of the Fine Arts degree from the University of Southern California’s film writing program in 1992.
Chbosky is a screenwriter, television writer, and stage writer. His first film, The Four Corners of Nowhere, which he wrote the screenplay for and also directed, premiered at the 1995 Sundance Film Festival, the largest independent cinema festival in the United States. The film won Narrative Feature honors at the Chicago Underground Film Festival. According to an All Movie Guide plot description written by Sandra Brennan, The Four Corners of Nowhere is a “humorous film [that] attempts to explain the nihilistic attitudes and terminal ennui of the X-generation.” The film follows the lives, relationships, and opinions of a group of twentysomethings living in Ann Arbor, Michigan. In addition to his honors for The Four Corners of Nowhere, Chbosky has been recognized for other films to which he contributed.
He is the recipient of the Abraham Polonsky Screenwriting Award for his screenplay Everything Divided. Chbosky wrote the screenplay for the film version of the popular stage play, Rent, and he was the co-editor and contributor to another stage play, Sexaholic. His current project, Fingernails and Smooth Skin, is the story of a young couple whose longtime relationship is threatened by their foibles and infidelities. Chbosky was a participant in the Sundance Institutes
Filmmakers’ lab. Chbosky is the editor of Pieces: A Collection of New Voices, a collection of fictional short-stories, and he is also the author of a book for a musical, Kept.
Chbosky is most well-known in the literary world for his popular, coming-of-age novel, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, published by MTV/Pocket Books in February 1999. The book, which is Chbosky’s first novel, follows the life of 15-year-old Charlie who prefers to observe the world around him instead of participating; this changes when he becomes friends with Patrick, a senior suffering because of his secret relationship with the high school football star, and Patrick’s step-sister, Sam, for whom Charlie has an unrequited love interest. The novel, told through Charlie’s notes to an unnamed stranger, follows the lives of Charlie’s group of high school friends through first relationships, parties, and performances of The Rocky Horror Picture Show.
…
Chbosky never intended The Perks of Being a Wallflower to be a novel for adolescents; however, its focus on adolescents has caused critics to view it as such. In an interview with Marty Beckerman of wordriot.com Chbosky laments that, “people can’t agree to disagree, and people can’t find common ground. The people who object for moral reasons cannot see the value of the book, and the people who see the value of the book don’t realize why it’s upsetting to more religious people.” Despite the controversy, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Chbosky told Beckerman that he, “[he is] very optimistic about [literary freedom in America].”
In Sally Estes’ February 15, 1999 review of The Perks of Being a Wallflower in Booklist she says, “First novelist Chbosky captures adolescent angst, confusion, and joy as Charlie reveals his innermost thoughts while trying to discover who he is and whom he is to become.” On March 15, 2000, Booklist chose The Perks of Being a Wallflower as one of the Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Readers, and on June 1, 2001, Booklist chose the novel as one of the Top 10 Gay and Lesbian Books for Youth. Chbosky is working on a screenplay for a film version of The Perks of Being a Wallflower.
Most recently, Chobsky was a creator, writer, and executive producer of the CBS television series Jericho, which was an action drama show delving into aftermath of nuclear attacks in a fictional town in Kansas called Jericho. Jericho premiered in 2006, but was canceled in 2008 at the end of the second season.
Chbosky lives and works in Los Angeles, California. He is an active gay rights supporter, and he continues to work on films
Source: http://pabook2.libraries.psu.edu/palitmap/bios/Chbosky__Stephen.html
Genre
Fiction
Curriculum Ties
Health (Social and Family Issues)
History/Pop Culture
Music Education
Sexual Education
Booktalking Ideas
Talk about the long period of time this book has been popular and it’s relatability regardless of geographic location, gender, and age of readers. Briefly introduce the characters of Charlie, Patrick, and Sam. Read the passage from their Christmas party to interest the audience in the relationships between Charlie and the other characters. Then give a rating from 1-5 and tell the audience why this is my rating, and take questions.
Reading Level/Interest Age
Scholastic.com: Grade 9-12
Challenging Issues
Death of a Loved One
Drug Use and/or Addiction
Language
LGBTQ+
Rape and Sexual Assault
Sexual Content and/or Nudity
Suicide
Preparing for Potential Challenges
http://jeselynsminiyacollection.blogspot.com/p/preparing-for-potential-challenges.html
http://jeselynsminiyacollection.blogspot.com/p/preparing-for-specific-challenges-lgbtq.html
Why the Item Was Chosen
This novel has been continuously mentioned as a valuable member of any public or personal library since it was first published. People of all ages are enthusiastic about the story because Charlie’s journey is instantly relatable for anyone who is currently, or has ever been, an adolescent. The release of the movie in 2012 renewed interest in the story and sparked a whole new generation of young adults to read the book. I included The Perks of Being a Wallflower in my collection because LGBTQ+ material is important for all young readers, queer or not. Also because it continues to appear on lists such as “43 Life-Changing Books You Need to Read,” keeping it at the forefront of interest for the current generation of young adults.
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