Perks of being a wall flower

The book begins with 15 year old boy named Charlie writing letters to an unknown recipient about his life. He discusses how he is beginning high school and his fear of it because his only friend, Michael, committed suicide the year before.
Charlie is a wallflower and he is befriended by a senior named Patrick. Patrick is gay and is dating a football player secretly. Patrick introduces Charlie to Sam, Patrick's step-sister. Charlie is attracted to Sam, but says nothing for a while. He is absorbed into their group of friends and can begin to control flashbacks he has had about his aunt Helen dying on his birthday.
He starts dating Mary Elizabeth, a member of the group but soon despises how one-sided the relationship becomes. During a game of truth or dare, he is dared to kiss the prettiest girl in the room, and kisses Sam, which causes the group to alienate him, with a warning from Patrick to stay away. He begins having flashbacks about his aunt again.
One day during lunch, Patrick is beaten up by a group of football players because he was talking to one of the players (his boyfriend). Charlie saves him from the beating and is let back into the group. The school year is ending which causes Charlie anxiety. He helps Sam to pack and they discuss his feelings for her. She becomes angry that he never said anything. They kiss, and as she touches his inner thigh, he becomes scared and tells her he is not ready.
The next day, he experiences a flood of emotions and is bombarded by memories of his aunt Helen touching him the way that Sam did. In the epilogue, it emerges that Helen had sexually molested him when he was little, but his love for her caused him to repress these memories. Charlie is admitted to a mental hospital, and after his release, Sam and Patrick come to see him.
Charlie comes to terms with his past saying "We don't get to choose where we came from, but we can choose where we go." He stops writing letters and decides instead to participate in life.[3]

Critics have identified some main themes to be teenage reality and nostalgia for adults. David Edelstein said that Chbosky captures the "feeling [that] you belong when among friends, yet you'd soon be alone" and notes that "the pain of loss... [is] almost as intense as the bliss." He believes "it's nostalgia with an emphasis on nostos, pain [sic]."[4] Another critic, Marty Beckerman, said the reason why Perks connects with kids is that it's real[;] the situations that occur are "so universal and happen to so many teenagers."[5]
Another main point Chbosky wanted to express was respect for teens. In an interview with Home Media Magazine, he said he wanted to "validate and respect and celebrate what [teenagers] are going through every day."[6] Chbosky said that the novel is for "anyone who's felt like an outcast."[7]
Style[edit]

Perks is written as a series of letters from Charlie to an anonymous character. In an interview, Chbosky said that the progression of the story through letters "feels intimate" and is "like [Charlie] is talking to you."[8]
Background[edit]

Charlie is loosely based on Chbosky. In an interview, Chbosky said that "Charlie was [his] hope in the form of a character."[9] Furthermore, he describes Charlie as the "closest [character] to [his] heart" in a separate interview.[7]
For the other characters, Chbosky said he took "pieces of real people in [his] life."[6] From that, he focused on people's struggles and things they are most passionate about and attempted to "hone in [on] the essence of each."[10] For example, Sam was inspired by someone that Chbosky has an equal passion for as Charlie has for her; Patrick was inspired by a friend of his from college; Stewart Stern inspired Charlie's English teacher, Bill. The only completely fictional character was Mary Elizabeth, and Chbosky commented that he "thought about that person [who] had that much force of nature, and Mary Elizabeth was [his] response." He wanted the group he created to have "comfort in each other."
Chbosky said that the novel was written fairly quickly, given that he had two letters finished in a day, half of the novel in a month, and two drafts completed within a year of starting the project.[11]
Reception[edit]

Perks of Being a Wallflower has been challenged due to its content. It has appeared on the American Library Association's list of the 10 most frequently challenged books 5 times in the past decade. Interviewer, Marty Beckerman said the novel has been challenged "for its depictions of adolescent sexuality and drug use."[5] In one instance, a Wisconsin school board declined the action to ban the book, angering local parents. In an interview, Chbosky stated that he knew of two specific school boards that have already banned the book, "Massachusetts and Long Island."[5] Furthermore, Chbosky "didn't write it to be a controversial book"[5] and is "surprised"[8] that it has been banned.
Reviewers have said that Perks seems similar to J.D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye. Chbosky stated that he "was not trying to mimic his style as a writer."[12] He sees "how readers could compare Charlie to Salinger's Holden Caulfield," but he thinks "they are very different people with unique problems and perspectives."[12] Some of Chbosky's overall influences are J.D. Salinger, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Tennessee Wiliams, and Stewart Stern.[12]
The idea of Perks came from when Chbosky was experiencing a rough time. He was going through a "bad breakup"[9] that led him to need an answer to the question "why do such good people let themselves get treated so badly" and Charlie was his ultimate answer.[8] Throughout an interview, Chbosky said his idea for the book started in school and grew from another book he was working on. The novel helped him to understand all the thoughts and feelings he has on the world and people, since he "see[s] life the way Charlie does."[12]
Perks has a large audience ranging from five to seven million readers.[11]