Charlie concludes in his final letters in Perks that he was sexually abused in early childhood by his Aunt Helen, who is now deceased. Chbosky's decision to feature a male victim of sexual violence along with a female perpetrator erodes the persistent female victim / male offender paradigm.
The novel addresses themes permeating adolescence, including introversion, sexuality, drug use, rape, and mental health, while also making several references to other literary works, films, and pop culture in general. Because of the mentioned themes, it was banned in some American schools for its content.
The story began when Chbosky was in school, evolving from another book on which he was working. Charlie was loosely based on Chbosky himself. In the novel, Chbosky included much of his own memories from the time he lived in Pittsburgh.
A great novel about high school life.
I think this is definitely appropriate for 13+, especially if they are mature.Wallflower (people) A wallflower is someone with an introverted personality type (or in more extreme cases, social anxiety) who will attend parties and social gatherings, but will usually distance themselves from the crowd and actively avoid being in the limelight.
Charlie is told that one of the reasons why he killed himself is because of “problems at home”. Charlie starts to ask himself if he is in a similar position, then he introduces his family members and relationship with them. He mentions his aunt Helen who was his favorite person, however she died.
It is revealed that Sam was sexually abused as a child, and she kisses Charlie to ensure that his first kiss is from someone who truly loves him. Similar to his own experience, Charlie witnesses his sister's boyfriend hit her across the face, but she forbids him from telling their parents.
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental illness. It involves exposure to trauma involving death or the threat of death, serious injury, or sexual violence. Something is traumatic when it is very frightening, overwhelming and causes a lot of distress.
Dissociative disorders are mental disorders that involve experiencing a disconnection and lack of continuity between thoughts, memories, surroundings, actions and identity. People with dissociative disorders escape reality in ways that are involuntary and unhealthy and cause problems with functioning in everyday life.
Wallflower (people) A wallflower is someone with an introverted personality type (or in more extreme cases, social anxiety) who will attend parties and social gatherings, but will usually distance themselves from the crowd and actively avoid being in the limelight.
Adapted by the filmmaker from his popular 1999 novel, this Pittsburgh-set story about a forlorn high school freshman who falls in with a gang of iconoclastic seniors features some amusing insights into adolescent angst but is impeded by the usual indie film accoutrements -- quirky voice-over, well-studied alt-rock
