Search This Blog

Wednesday, October 10, 2012

2012 Banned Book Week Wrap-Up

I loved reading The Perks of Being a Wallflower for Banned Book Week. Wallflower is about a young teen named Charlie.  Charlie is entering the first year of high school and confronting the confusing, exciting and troubling issues that teens may face.  The book's epistolary style - each chapter consists of a letter Charlie writes to an anonymous friend - allows the author to show us a smart, thoughtful, young man who has some difficult problems. "This is my life," he writes in the first letter, "And I want you to know that I am both happy and sad and I'm still trying to figure out how that could be."

Author Stephen Chbosky very skillfully captures the teen-scene vibe in Wallflower.  In fact, while reading the book I had a dream, which I haven't had in many, many, many years, of standing in my own high school's hallway, puzzled and embarrassed because I've forgotten the combination to my locker. Bad dreams aside, The Perks of Being a Wallflower is highly recommended reading.


2 comments:

  1. 33mslarneYou have that locker-combination nightmare, too? (phew) I thought it was just me.
    As the volunteer manager of our Friends of the Library used book sale, I have a banned book table every year, and people are always surprised at the books which are there, and usually buy some.
    I don't recall the YA books being around when I was YA, but I was deeply ensconced in Jane Eyre and the like, so I probably missed them. I think they would have made those years seem a lot less confusing.
    Enjoyed your blog.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks so much for your comments, Marcia. I also occasionally have the dream where I have to take the final exam for a course that I thought I had dropped - ugh. Sounds like you are doing great things for your library; having a banned book table is an excellent idea. Stop back again. Cheers!

    ReplyDelete