As a freshman in high school, I looked around the hallways and all I could see was one book cover. It had red letters in a girls "preppy" handwriting that compiled the background and the big black letters that created the title; "The Perks of Being a Wallflower". I could not convince myself to pick up the book. It was a cliché, a work of gossip and the media. I did not want to fall into that trap.

Finally, I walked into english class one day and the book was placed on each desk. I groaned in agony of the thought of having to read such a stereotypical book, but I complied. " Dear Friend, I am writing to you because she said you listen and understand stand…" the book started, and continued with "please don’t ask who she is because then you might figure out who I am." In that very first line… there are three characters; you, the writer, and she. None of them have a name. They were all a mystery.

I kept reading and each word was so black and white, yet such a secret. One by one the characters are revealed and the hardships of high school are highlighted. Charlie, the main character, begins his plight of struggles little by little. He falls in love with his best friend, doesn't understand what love really is, and is abused by love all at the same time.


I finished the book in a day. It was glued to my hands at all times, I had to know the next line and the next thought. But I found, as I came out of the enteral place that comes with reading, that I still did not know the answers to all the questions possessed in the book. I kept asking why does bad stuff happen to good people? What are the true Perks to Being a Wallflower? "I am infinite" Charlie says, that is true. But so are the questions that he caused us.