Book (not) Bingo #13
The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
The critically acclaimed debut novel from Stephen Chbosky follows observant “wallflower” Charlie as he charts a course through the strange world between adolescence and adulthood. First dates, family drama, and new friends. Sex, drugs, and The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Devastating loss, young love, and life on the fringes. Caught between trying to live his life and trying to run from it, Charlie must learn to navigate those wild and poignant roller-coaster days known as growing up.
I recently read a news article about the substantial increase in the number of books banned from classrooms and school libraries in recent years. Mostly in states with the same current political lean, obviously, although the issue has existed for decades. Books ranging from Of Mice and Men to Charlotte’s Web to The American Heritage Dictionary have been banned in some districts in the not-so-distant past.
Possibly not coincidentally, this “frequently banned book” was on my Amazon list of “daily deals” a day or two later. The book was published in the late 1990s and has been banned many times due to “problems” such as references to abortion, abuse, LGBTQ+ issues, suicide and teenage sexual activity. Since I was well beyond the target audience age by the time it was published, I had never read it.
I found the book very easy to read, in the sense of main character voice and story flow. The story is told via a series of letters written by “Charlie,” a highly intelligent but socially awkward teen facing his first year of high school, to an anonymous friend. Because of the letter format, none of the quote/unquote questionable material is particularly graphic; it’s (minimally) described more from a perspective of slightly embarrassed angst than of excited titillation.
This wasn’t an entertaining or fun book, but I’m glad I read it. Unfortunately, I’m pretty sure that the teens who would benefit most from reading it are the ones least likely to have access to it.
(Nikki: And I just noticed the non-capitalized author name on the cover. Odd I didn’t notice previously - even tbe title isn’t capitalized.)