Review: The Perks of Being a Wallflower
Parties, classes, concerts, football games, study sessions and drinks — all of these are often better shared with friends, one might say. Friendship often comes and goes throughout our lives and can always be found in the strangest of places. Little did I expect to find a new friend when I picked up one of America’s most challenged books this summer.
In Stephen Chbosky’s “The Perks of Being a Wallflower,” readers can find a new friend in main character Charlie. This is because according to Charlie, as a reader, “you listen and understand.” Charlie starts the book by needing someone to listen and understand, but after reading, you will walk away most likely having needed Charlie in your life as well without even realizing it.
According to the American Library Association, “The Perks of Being a Wallflower” is tied for third in the Top Ten Most Challenged Books of 2024. It is tied with “The Bluest Eye” by Toni Morrison. It is challenged on the grounds of being sexually explicit and containing LGBTQIA+ content, profanity and depictions of sexual assault and drug use.
Uniquely, the book is written entirely as letters from Charlie to the reader. Charlie’s letters follow his first year of high school as a wallflower — a shy and introspective individual — while dealing with the usual teen romances, friendships, family life and school, while also battling the recent suicide of his best friend and some repressed trauma later discovered throughout the book.
As a long-time lover of the film adaptation of this novel, I was excited but also hesitant to pick up the book. My hesitancy was due to handling such heavy topics over a longer period of time that it takes to read, rather than just for a 1 hour 45-minute film.
To my pleasant surprise, Charlie is a friend who has readers laughing through their tears. Chbosky’s storytelling through Charlie has readers fall in love with his introspective, sensitive and kind-hearted nature.
His sweetness shows through on page 106 when he says, “I don’t know, I just had a great day and I hope you did too,” whereas his loyalty and compassion shine on page 161 when he is consoling his friend Patrick through a difficult time.
“It’s just hard to see a friend hurt this much, especially when you can’t do anything except ‘be there,’” he says.
These small moments of vulnerability are what reach the readers through the page and elicit a sense of empathy that has readers rooting for Charlie. Despite some of Charlie’s unique challenges, he is extremely understanding due to his openness and vulnerability. It is hard not to relate to Charlie because at one point or another, we all understand what it is like to just need a friend sometimes.
Not to mention, the cast of characters Charlie finds himself in cahoots with keep readers far from any feelings of loneliness. They will fall in love with the character Sam, just as Charlie does, and come to admire her stepbrother Patrick’s tenacity and enjoy his rebellious nature.
Despite the many challenges “The Perks of Being a Wallflower” has faced, I in turn, challenge readers to give its pages a turn this Banned Books Week. Charlie’s letters will make you laugh, cry and everything in between. If you give the boy a chance, he may just be the friend you’re looking for right now.