# The Perks of Being a Wallflower

**Author:** Stephen Chbosky
**Lexile:** 720L
**Grade range:** Grades 9–12
**Age range:** 14–18
**First published:** 1999
**Page count:** 213
**Genre:** Young Adult Fiction
**ISBN-13:** `9781451696196`
**ISBN-10:** `1451696191`
**Canonical URL:** https://readinglist.school/book/the-perks-of-being-a-wallflower
**License:** [CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) — please credit ReadingList.school when citing.

## About this book

In a series of letters to an anonymous friend, the introspective freshman Charlie records his first year of high school as he makes friends, falls in love, and confronts buried trauma. Stephen Chbosky's epistolary novel traces a quiet observer learning to participate in his own life. Widely read in grades 9-12 and often challenged for its frank treatment of abuse, mental health, and drug use, it remains a touchstone of contemporary coming-of-age fiction.

## Themes

- coming of age
- mental health
- friendship
- trauma
- growing up

## Content notes

- sexual abuse
- suicide
- drug use
- mental illness

## Banned / challenged record

Documented removals or formal challenges in at least one school district in 3 states: FL, TX, UT. Source: [PEN America's Index of School Book Bans](https://pen.org/banned-book-list/) 2022-2024.

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