This week’s staff pick is The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky.
This is a story about what it’s like to travel that strange course through the uncharted territory of high school. The world of first dates, family dramas, and new friends; of sex, drugs, and the rocky horror picture show; of those wild and poignant roller-coaster days known as growing up.
A novel composed from letters addressed to an anonymous friend, Charlie’s letters cover his first year in high school, a time haunted by recent tragedies. Though he begins as a friendless observer, Charlie is soon pals with seniors Patrick and Sam (for Samantha), stepsiblings who include Charlie in their circle, where he smokes pot for the first time, drops acid, and falls madly in love with the inaccessible Sam. A plain-written narrative suggesting that passivity, and thinking too much, lead to confusion and anxiety.
