High school. First day,
freshman year. What are you? Nervous? Excited? Terrified? We’ve all been there.
High school is a time where people learn about themselves and life, and that is
the case in particular with Charlie. Charlie is an incoming freshman to his
high school, and he’s scared that he won’t make any friends, he’ll do poorly in
his classes, the whole shebang. The book follows Charlie through freshman year.
Every bad and good teacher, all the friends, enemies, parties, drugs, and
relationships.
Let me be honest, Perks wasn’t what I was expecting it to
be. The entire book is written in a journal format, addressed to a “friend”,
and always signed, “Love always, Charlie”. The journal starts out poorly written,
and as the year progresses, so do Charlie’s letters. Charlie deals with a lot
of crap, and he doesn’t hold anything back from the reader. He talks about the
first time he was stoned, the first kiss, his first love, his first good book.
He delivers everything to the reader plainly, which is very refreshing.
All in all, I would
recommend this book to anyone with an open mind. Those people who are not open
to some secular things might find the book difficult to read, but the message
of friendship and hope are a beautiful thing to discover throughout the many
pages.
Reviewer: BF
