The Perks of Being a Wallflower

By Stephen Chbosky

15 and traumatized by the suicide of his best friend last year, Charlie is a geeky wallflower who is taken under the wings of two seniors and inducted into some of the mysteries of life.

Sex.

Drugs.

Rock and Roll.

Rocky Horror.

On the down side, Charlie has to battle his way past depression, the grief of his friend's and his beloved aunt's death, and his memory of witnessing a date rape.

On the plus side, he has a supportive teacher who believes in him when no one else does, and has two gay friends.


"The Perks of Being a Wallflower" is #10 on the list of Most Challenged Books of 2007.

Why?

Here's a quote from a great article by Paul Varnell on Banned Books Week last year.

"The Perks of Being a Wallflower" is a sort of omnibus of problem situations high school students might encounter, one of which is the presence of two gay students. Considering all the other things in the book--rape, child abuse, etc.--the two gay youths come across as perhaps the most decent and least troubled characters in the book. Maybe that is what the challengers really objected to.

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