The Perks of Being a Wallflower is a journey of self-discovery for Charlie, who begins high school running away from tragedies he does not understand. Author Stephen Chbosky presents a 16-year-old who lost his best friend to suicide, mourns his aunt’s death, and carries a devastating childhood secret.

Despite being accustomed to living life on the sidelines, Charlie wants to relate and finds friendships in a pair of senior classmates. The book is a series of letters he writes to “Dear friend,” describing his times with his new friends, step-siblings Patrick and Sam. He falls in love with Sam, who has an older boyfriend, and learns Patrick has a secret lover in a closeted football star.

A series of events related to date rape, sex, drugs, abortion, and abuse give Charlie compelling topics for his engaging letters. Through it all, Charlie is a charming kid who is getting wiser, giving hope that he will learn to be more honest with himself and find ways to confront demons.

Wallflower is entertaining, insightful, tragic, funny, and the kind of book many readers say they come back to, over and over. It is much more than a coming-of-age story. Chbosky enjoyed huge success with the book and the motion picture, which he directed. He also wrote the screenplay.