The Perks of Being a Wallflower

The Perks of Being a Wallflower    Gallery Books (1999)  ISBN: 9781451696202

By Stephen Chbosky

Written in a personal journal format, Charlie reveals the challenges he faces during his freshmen year of high school. Charlie begins his story by sharing details of his friend, Michael’s, suicide, which occurred during the boys’ 8th grade year. After Michael’s death, Charlie, along with some of Michael’s other friends, attend counseling. Charlie carries this and his beloved aunt’s death with him as he forges through his freshmen year of high school. Charlie finds two pivotal friends in seniors, Patrick and Sam, a step-brother and sister duo who welcomes Charlie into their pack of wallflowers. Through their friendship and his English teacher’s reading recommendations, Charlie begins to come to terms with the tragedy that he’s endured and the mental illness he bears.  This formative tale underscores a teenager’s experimentation with drugs, sex, and self-discovery.

Quantitative: Lexile—720L; ATOS—4.8

Qualitative: Although the language doesn’t pose much difficulty, the interest level of The Perks of Being a Wallflower is for upper grade students. With issues like sex, drugs, suicide, mental illness, and homosexuality in addition to the use of vulgar language, this book would not be appropriate for the age group Accelerated Reader matches it with. However, these issues connect with various access points that make this book highly engaging for high school students. The journal format of the novel may pose some difficulty. In many instances, Charlie’s first-person narrative includes flashbacks that a reader must interpret. Additionally, because of Charlie’s mental state, he often leaves thoughts or observations open-ended allowing the reader to fill in the gap. Two specific instances occur in the form of the “Dear Friend” that Charlie addresses each journal entry to and the vague details regarding his relationship with his favorite aunt.  With allusions to classical literature and eighties/early nineties music, readers may struggle to understand how the themes of these books and songs relate to the novel as a whole. Both prior and cultural knowledge will definitely assist in a reader’s understanding of the themes Chbosky presents.

Content Area: English; Health—Relationships; Health—Homosexuality; Health—Mental Health; Health--Teen suicide

Standards: RL.9/10.2-5; 9

Curriculum Suggestions: The Perks of Being a Wallflower would be great additional or supplemental reading that connects to the classic novel, Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger. Students could compare and contrast Charlie’s experiences to Holden Caulfield’s experience. Both books that revolve around teenage angst and with characters struggling to maintain a healthy mental state, the books, when analyzed side by side, add more meaning to one another. What do the students notice about the voices of Charlie and Holden? How does the structure of each novel influence the reader’s attitude toward each character?

Another way teachers can encourage additional reading is through the intertextuality of the novel. Teachers could create “Charlie’s Reading List.” This list could be used, again, as supplemental or additional reading. Since many of the texts are already appear on recommended, core literature lists, English teachers could even organize their class thematically using “Charlie’s Reading List” as an anchor.

Like Catcher in the Rye, The Perks of Being a Wallflower is a book that was a challenged book. Teachers could have students examine the books that have been challenged and determine what makes these books controversial. It would also serve as a wonderful display in the library for Banned Book Month.

Finally, teachers may want to have their students keep a personal journal or blog Like Charlie, they may find the exercise therapeutic. Allowing for journal/blogging time in the course of a class period would emphasize the importance and benefits of keeping a journal.

Digital Resources:

·         Perks of Being a Wallflower Screenplay--http://www.pages.drexel.edu/~ina22/splaylib/Screenplay-Perks_of_Being_a_Wallflower.pdf

·         Read Alikes--http://www.cityofpuyallup.org/files/library/9253feee5da2df77.pdf

·         Top 10 ALA Banned Books List--http://www.ala.org/bbooks/frequentlychallengedbooks/top10

·         Penzu: Online Journal--http://penzu.com/

Personal Thoughts: When considering a school’s population, The Perks of Being a Wallflower really attracts students that can relate to Charlie and his friends. What the novel really exposes is how guarded students are about their problems. Adults often don’t realize the struggles students bring with them every day. The multiple access levels really speak to a diverse group coping with universal issues.

*Meets the “Reading for Pleasure HS/MS” requirement

The Burn Journals

The Burn Journals

By Brent Runyon        Alfred A Knoff(2004)      ISBN: 0375826211

In the true story, The Burn Journals, Brent, 14, feels overwhelmed by the challenges he faces in his young life: he gets in trouble frequently, has failed most of his classes, and is overwhelmed by what seems to be an infinite sadness. One day, Brent receives some matches, lights one up, and sets the whole box on fire. In his panic, he throws the fiery box into a locker, igniting a t-shirt. After his is discovered as the arsonist, Brent is
up for expulsion. Feeling utterly beaten down by the “all the stupid things” he’s done, Brent walks to his family’s shed, grabs a can of gasoline and matches, trudges upstairs and locks himself in in the bathroom. There, he proceeds douse himself with gasoline, and like the t-shirt, erupts his body into flames—a move he immediately regrets. With his brother’s help, emergency workers arrive to take Brent to the hospital…

In the The Burn Journals, Brent shares the powerful grip of depression, his grueling recovering, and his willingness to live.

Quantitative: Lexile Level--690L; ATOS-3.8

Qualitative:   Even though ATOS ranks The Burn Journals between a 3rd and 4th grade reading level for independent reading, this book holds an interest level for upper grade students. Due to the graphic nature of Brent’s suicide attempt and some foul language, students in junior high or high school would be able to identify with the content of this book in a more impactful way. Overall the vocabulary used is not complex; however, during Brent’s time in the hospital, medical language is invoked which could confuse students. Context clues are helpful when attempting to make sense of this medical language.  Throughout the memoir, Runyon uses literary devices such as imagery and symbolism to describe the eyes as a window to the soul. The eyes play a significant part in Runyon’s recovery and the reader’s understanding of his pain, since his eyes are the only part he considers to be part of his true self—before and after his attempted suicide. Additionally, once Runyon enters the hospital, the book’s format shifts taking on the structure of a journal. Although dates aren’t always listed, the entries report his experiences as he goes in and out of treatments and recovery centers. Time may become a concern for novice readers without regular dates listed, but the narrative remains linear.

Content Area: English; Peer Resource; Health--Teen suicide; Art--Therapy

Curriculum Suggestions: This is not a book I would recommend for mandatory reading, but it would work well in a health class when examining the impacts of depression. Furthermore, the memoir highlights the painful nature of recovering from bodily burns. This could be used as a primary source to learn about both issues—depression and wound recovery. Additionally, Brent Runyon, through his journal entries, shows the reader the power of art as means of coping with mental health issues like depression. Any teacher—whether it’s in English, health, or art—could have students create a piece of art that represents an emotion that they have been caring. By allowing students to choose both the form and medium of the art piece, teachers offer a differentiated means of expressing that feeling while practicing a coping strategy that Runyon uses himself.

Teachers could also use The Burn Journals as a launch pad to explore how mental health is being addressed in the United States and how treatment compares to other countries.

Common Core Standards: RST 9/10.1-5

Additional/Digital Content:

• This American Life--http://www.thisamericanlife.org/contributors/brent-runyon

• All Things Considered-- http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=3074003

Personal Thoughts: What I appreciated most about The Burn Journals is that it presents the male experience when dealing with depression. We live in a culture that does not cultivate a safe space for sharing feelings, especially for young men. Depression, anxiety, and other mental health issues are not isolated to one sex and Runyon makes this crystal clear. Runyon's attempted suicide occurred in 1991. Today, with kids' access to social media, students have shown that social media increases depression among its users. Growing reports of teenagers committing suicide related to online activity--specifically bullying--makes The Burn Journals as relevant today as it was when it was first published in 2004.

*Meets the “Reading for Pleasure HS/MS” requirement