Rating: 
Summary: A great read
Review: This was an awesome book. I could understand where Charlie was coming from so well at certain parts, it was scary. There were certain points where I laughed out loud, raised my eyebrows, or physically smacked my forehead because of something he said or did. P>Anyone at any point will find something to relate to Charlie with. He's deep and poignant, and selfless to the point where he's no longer being honest with anyone, especially himself. His experimentation with drugs and sex is hilarious and frightening all at once, and while he grows so much throughout the book, he seems to stay so innocent at the same time. This is an awesome book. For those of you who love dramatic things and teenage drama, you won't be wasting your money.
Rating:
Summary: The Perks of Being a Wallflower
Review: My boyfriend gave me this book along with a card that said, "Read and you will know". So I read it. In one sitting. I couldn't tear myself away.
This is a wonderful book. It's incredibly beautiful, simple, uplifting, and thoughtful. The protagonist, Charlie, is one of the most likeable characters I've ever read about. What makes him so wonderful is his honesty. He reminds me of an unjaded Holden Caulfield. There are lines that will make you gasp with delight, understanding, awe, and sadness. This book will make you laugh. Make you cry. Turn your world upside down. After I'd read it, I felt drained, yet so peaceful. I've read it several times since that first time and it gets better each time. One of my favorite lines is one that Charlie writes one day, "Ian MacArthur is a wonderful sweet fellow who wears glasses and peers out of them with delight." Then Charlie has to leave Ian because he's started to get mad at him, which makes me laugh every time I read it.
And of course there's Charlie's articulate yet wonderfully simple line, "I feel infinite."
Steven Chbosky is a wonderful author.
I strongly recommend this book.
Rating: 
Summary: A Personal Story from Pittsburgh
Review: When I started reading this book I will admit I was not impressed, I found it to start out slowly, with the same boorish teenage angst and cliched themes that are present in most novels dealing with American Adolescence these days. However, at some point this short little book became enrapturing, and enthralling. As it tells the story of Charlie, a high school freshman growing up in the South Hills of Pittsburgh, a world or bourgeois boredom in this former steel city. For Charlie, his freshman year is filled with episodes of reality few high schoolers experience during these four idealic years, but yet perhaps most should. From the cliched adolescent topics of friendships, homecoming dances, and Friday night football games, to the bestial and sordid of homosexuality, sex, drugs, and of course the Rocky Horror Picture Show, Chbosky does an excellent job of walking a fine line between the cliche and angst filled pessimism. Chbosky also litters the book with realistic scenes from Pittsburgh, from a cathartic experience in crossing the Ft Pitt tunnel, to Patrick's trips to the "Fruit Loop", dancing at Pegasus down on Liberty Avenue, and frequent trips to [a restaurant](Big Boy as Chbosky titles it, but we know the truth). A definite read for anyone unable to relate to Holden's whining, and optimistic about life after high school.
Rating:
Summary: 3 1/2 stars!!!
Review: I have one word to describe this book: touching. I could have used much more words to describe it but I chose "touching." You feel like you want to know Charlie and meet him somewhere. This book is but it is not for everyone. You have to sort of relate to him a bit and get past all the times he tediously cries throughout the whole book. This powerful novel is about a young 9th grade wallflower named Charlie. You don't know where he lives, where he goes to school and even his real name. He writes letters to someone throughout the entire book and tells he/she about his 9th grade year. I don't want to give away anything but he battles through problems of sex, drugs, school, homosexuality, friends, death and family. This funny/sad coming-of-age novel is really great for Stephen Chbosky's first novel. Oh and Charlie obviously lives in Pittsburgh, PA. Here are the hints:
1. It mentions the Fort Pitt Tunnels
2. It mentions Allegheny County
3. The author grew up in Pittsburgh and graduated from my future high school
I know this because I live in Pitt! Well anyway this book is good but not a must-have for everyone.
Rating: 
Summary: Emo music turned into a novel
Review: This book is one of the biggest jokes I have ever read. Of course the author tries to write this novel in a touching way but it surely did not touch me anymore than watching paint dry. The author basically wrote this book like an emo song, in other words it is sappy, quite redundant, does not have a sense of purpose, and just like all those crap teenage/coming-of-age novels out there (except catcher in the rye, that is a totally different thing in which holden goes for the most part BY HIMSELF and experiences things on a different level than this whiny crybaby namec Charlie.) Yes i am 15, and yes you could call me cold and heartless but this book did not phase me in any way.
Rating:
Summary: Innocense Never Lost
Review: Perks is one of the most moving books I have ever read. It is written simply and innocently from the point of view of a newbie high schooler with dreams, integrity, and genuine curiosity. If you cannot relate to it, I fear that you were one of the kids I couldn't stand in high school. This book is a very quick read, yet is filled with passion and yearning, and will make you think hard about what it means to be popular, what it means to be a wallflower, and what it means to be a teenager. This is not a boring and cliched book. Rather, it's real, and it's fantastic.
Rating:
Summary: Tender ache of young adulthood
Review: Like Holden Caulfield, Charlie, the wallflower mentioned in the title, seems to float through life with no direction. However, Charlie has a lot more support backing him up than the protagonist of "The Catcher in the Rye" ever did. Charlie's a freshman and has got a bunch of seniors for friends, who take him on adventures like his first real party, doing drugs and The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Charlie also has siblings and a kind new English teacher who tells him "You are one of the most gifted people I have ever known." The story is told by Charlie himself to an unknown stranger in a series of letters and imparts a tender ache, like the Smiths songs he is so fond of. This novel explores issues of family, betrayal, and what how true friends, once estranged, can find their way back to each other. Charlie is a drifter of sorts, an observer of people and life who withhold s his opinion often to his detriment. However, it's not foolish to have hope for this boy who assures his anonymous pen pal "Please believe things are good with me, and even when they're not, they will be soon enough. And I will believe the same about you."
Rating:
Summary: Eerily familiar
Review: I can't believe this is a work of fiction! This has to at least be based on someone's real life. Charlie reminds me a lot of what I was like in high school, except that he got straight A's. I knew similar music, similar friends and experiences, the exploration of endless books, and a scant few mentors who let me know that being "gifted" doesn't make one a freak.
The way the author pieces words together, and the way he follows Charlie's thoughts and observations feels very genuine and real.
He was not afraid to deal with the most sensitive and intimate issues and did so with an innocent straightforwardness that is refreshing among today's literature.
Just go get it right now and read it. You won't be sorry.
Rating:
Summary: Not your normal teen angst novel
Review: I've heard several people rave about this book, so I had to pick it up. And I wasn't disappointed.
It's told through a serious of letters from Charlie, a freshman in high school, to an anonymous person. The novel is almost like a journal as Charlie reveals what he is experiencing and feeling. He is the kind of person who thinks way too much, and neglects to really live in the moment. He seems to be near depression most of the time, but a supportive teacher and two great friends help him. There's a little bit of everything in this novel- teen angst, teen love/lust, drugs, homosexuality...it's just an amazing piece of literature. I highly recommend it.
Rating: 
Summary: likeable main character but a little wishy washy
Review: I picked up this book in the "Literature" section at my bookstore and did not realize that it was a young adult book until about half way through the novel. I graduated high school in 1988 so I could relate to a lot of the cultural references throughout the book (set in 1991-1992). Charlie is a guy that you really want to like and for the most part you will. The main problem in my opinion was that the book sort of read like a TV movie about a dysfunctional teenager you might see on any network channel.
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