Thursday, November 18, 2010

Perks of Being a Wallflower--Stephen Chbosky


From the Vault
This review was originally written--handwritten no less--in December 1999 before the Age of Blogs. I'm not editing it at all because I don't believe in tampering with history. For other old reviews, click on the "From the Vault" tag.


Title: Perks of Being a Wallflower
Author: Stephen Chbosky
1999
Genre: problem novel
Subjects: depression, sexuality, adolescence

Summary: 16 year old Charlie spirals down into a depression during his freshman year of high school. He begins well, and becomes friends with two people who show him more of life than he's ever seen, but until he accepts a traumatic event from his past, he can't break away from depression. 

Critique: Set in the early 1990s, Chbosky has realistically portrayed the time as well as universal issues teens of all decades deal with. Dialogue (seen in Charlie's letters) is great. Format is great. With Speak, a must read of this year's books. 

Recommendation: Yes


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2 comments:

Kristina Barnes♥ said...

I recently won this book in a giveaway and have been meaning to pick it up. It sounds like something that I could connect with. I'll have to read this one soon! :)

Lisa said...

This is one of my favorite books. It was so raw and heartbreaking.

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