The Perks of Being a Wallflower is an extraordinary book written by Stephen Chbosky, and it contains an enormous amount of insight which applies to middle and high schoolers. However, we aren’t allowed to read this book in school anymore, and this is a great disadvantage to kids.
The Perks of Being a Wallflower was first banned in 2003 and has continued to be challenged as a primary novel in many school districts. This book is also not included on the list of approved literature books for the Glendale Unified School District. The first argument to ban the book was that the book contains “drugs and alcohol use” and “sexual references.”
The novel is about a kid named Charlie who writes letters to an unknown person. Throughout the book, he tells this unknown person about his life, school, and hardships. This book is written as a series of letters, and as we continue to read them, we can just see how differently Charlie views the world. This book has many surprising revelations and keeps you on the edge of your seat the whole time.
The concerns that parents have for this novel are understandable, because they want to control what their children are exposed to. However, children are going to find out about these things either way. Parents will always do their very best to protect their children from the harsh realities of life, but in the end it doesn’t benefit them to be shielded from these truths.
Reading this book in a classroom setting gives both students and teachers the opportunity to have an open discussion about the book. This way, the conversations can be controlled, but still have an appropriate effect.
The world is a cruel place and this book shows it. It illustrates how people can be so challenging and confusing, and it teaches students about the reality of high school.
Both middle and high schoolers can really learn from this book. There are so many extraordinary quotes found in its pages, and the people who have read the book have been inspired or have changed their perspective on life.
This quote reads, “Things change. And friends leave. Life doesn’t stop for anybody.” This really tells how rough high school can be.
At another moment, Charlie says, “So, I guess we are who we are for a lot of reasons. And maybe we’ll never know most of them. But even if we don’t have the power to choose where we come from, we can still choose where we go from there. We can still do things. And we can try to feel okay about them.” These two quotes are just worded so beautifully that you can feel how Charlie is feeling through his tone.
When you read this book, you look through someone else’s eyes, feel what someone else feels. You can place yourself into Charlie’s shoes.
The advice Charlie has for incoming high school students is amazing. He certainly has a way with words, and he puts things into perspective that people don’t normally talk about. This book can really make you rethink your outlook on the future.
It is difficult to express, in words, how extraordinary this book is, because it can really change your perspective on things. Therefore, this book should not be banned, and all students in our District should have the opportunity to read it in school.
