The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

Book Review by Hattie Wales aged 12

A heart-warming, American story to grip young teenage readers.

The whole story is told through letters written by a boy called Charlie to a friend. Charlie is a freshman. And even though he is not the biggest geek in the school, by no means is he popular. Charlie over-thinks everything, and sticks out like a sore thumb. He is a ‘wallflower’, standing back and watching others live life.

But then Charlie meets Sam and Patrick, two seniors, and his life is changed completely.

Sam “welcomes him to the island of misfit toys” and they show him the real world. He soon realises that he has made two friends for life but finds himself falling in love with Sam, a girl he knows is way out of his reach.

His sweet, endearing character makes him very likeable to the reader, and throughout the book it is easy to feel very sorry for him. He has had to deal with death from a young age and misses his Aunt Helen and best friend. Charlie is always doing things to help other people and rarely says what he really wants.

This book is a touching story dealing with lots of difficult teenage problems. It is aimed at boys and girls over 13 years old.

This book can be borrowed from The Hive as well as other Worcestershire libraries. Click here to check availability and check it out.