The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

"Once on a yellow piece of paper with green Lines
he wrote a poem
And he called it "Chops"
because that was the name of his dog
And that's what it was all about
And his teacher gave him an A
and a gold star
And his mother hung it on the kitchen door
and read it to his aunts
That was the year Father Tracy
took all the kids to the zoo
And he let them sing on the bus
And his little sister was born
With tiny toenails and no hair
And his mother and father kissed a lot
And the girl around the corner sent him a
Valentine signed with a row of X's
and he had to ask his father what the X's meant
And his father always tucked him in bed at night
And was always there to do it



On a piece of white paper with blue lines
he wrote a poem
And he called it "Autumn"
because that was the name of the season
And that's what it was all about
And his teacher gave him an A
and asked him to write more clearly
And his mother never hung it on the Kitchen door
because of its new paint
And the kids told him
that Father Tracy smoked cigars
And left butts on the pews
And sometimes they would burn holes
that was the year his sister got glasses
with thick lenses and black frames
And the girl around the corner laughed
when he asked her to go see Santa Claus
And the kids told him why
his mother and father kissed a lot
And his father never ticked him in bed at night
And his father got mad
When he cried for him to do it



Once on a paper torn from his notebook
He wrote a poem
And he called it "innocence: A Question"
Because that was the question about his girl
And that's what it was all about
And his professor gave him an A
And a strange steady look
And his mother never hung it on the kitchen door
Because he never showed her
That was the year that Father Tracy died
And he forgot how the end
Of Apostle's Creed went
And caught his sister
Making out on the back porch
And his mother and father never kissed
Or even talked
And the girl around the corner
Wore too much makeup
That made him cough when he kissed her
But he kissed her anyway
Because that was the thing to do
And at three A.M. he tucked himself into bed
His father snoring soundly


That's why on the back of a brown paper bag
He tried another poem
And he called it "Absolutely Nothing"
Because that's what it was really all about
And he gave himself an A
And a slash on each damned wrist
And he hung it on the bathroom door
Because this time he didn't think
He could reach the kitchen"

The Perks of Being a Wallflower is a book of letters. Charlie is writing to someone who he just wants to listen. He uses different names and never puts return addresses on the letters because he doesn't want the person he is writing to to know who he is. Charlie is an amazingly compelling character. He starts writing letters when he starts high school as the friend of the guy who killed himself. Throughout high school he goes through a lot. He gains friends, loses friends, witnesses a girl getting raped, keeps his friend's huge secret abut being gay, tries drugs, drinks, gets his drivers license, and much more. In the end, he learns all about the outside world and himself.

I enjoyed every word of Charlie's letters. I couldn't put the book down. My favorite thing about the book was the way Charlie saw things. He was a very deep thinker and each letter put me in his mind. He was also a very sensitive and caring person. Once Charlie was shopping for a Christmas gift for his dad with his mom and sister and he started crying because he couldn't find anything. His sister told him to just buy a tie for his dad, but he really wanted a gift that would mean something to him. I loved that about him. He cared about other people more than himself.

The author's writing style was perfect. The letters were written just like a teenager would write if they were being honest. For example, sometimes he would just say I don't know. I don't know what's wrong with me." This made the whole book more believable and realistic to me. Like I said, I felt as if I was inside of Charlie's head. The plot of the book was perfect, too. The end was great because it wasn't a fake "happy ending" but it was a realistic closure. I also enjoyed how the end was in a way a surprise ending. My jaw actually dropped.

I can't say I had a favorite part of the book because I adored it all. Above is a poem in the book that really proves how great the book is to me, because I think this is one of the best poems I have ever read and it is very similar to the book. To me the book and the poem both talk about life and the different stages of it. Charlie is a teenager just like I am and I was able to connect with him. I haven't been through a lot of the things he has, but I think I understood the book better because I could connect to some of the feelings he was having.

I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to read an intense and incredible book. It is definitely not for children and may be too adult for some teenagers, but if you think you can handle it then trust me, you will fall in love with Charlie and all of the other characters.

~Written by Abbie K~