The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

BookTalk

I want you to meet Charlie. Charlie is a little odd. A little different. We all know a Charlie…Well, we don’t know our Charlies, but we see them. The quiet kids, the filler kids, the Wallflowers. I guess we always think that these people are just quiet, maybe a little weird…Heck, to be honest with you all, we don’t ever really think much about these kids. Our thoughts and eyes just skip over them. Not even a blip on our radar.

But Charlie has found you. You are now not just a blip on Charlie’s radar, you’re going to become his closest confidant. Charlie is going to write you letters.

Charlie is just beginning his first year of High School. And he’s a Wallflower that’s decided to put some effort into participating. As he slowly begins to take a step away from the proverbial wall you’ll get to see his most intimate thoughts, his confessions, his fears, and the truths he hides for others. Charlie is weird and a genius and deeply confused and naive and able to see what others miss and incredibly unable to see what everybody else sees. This is a book about a journey. It’s about the life of a person you and I skip over in life. This is a book that will change how you see your world.

Review

This is the first book in a long time I’ve read cover to cover. It’s 12:15 am and all I can say is Wow. This is what good YA is. It was a journey and smart and quirky and really quiet at times. And because it’s 12 am I’m just jumping in…try to keep up, lol.

Ahh, the scene where all of Charlie’s friends sit around and stare after he gives his Christmas gifts, spot on. Seriously, it was like for the first time these people looked up and saw this Wallflower as a person. Someone who was watching so intently he was able to give the perfect gift to each friend. Charlie is someone so quiet they never really noticed him.

I loved the characters of Sam and Patrick. What perfect people. I never wanted their friendship to end. The innate understanding these two people had for Charlie was amazing. Through them Charlie began to enter the world. The world at large is place where Charlie had never fully “participated”. In the end by being Charlie’s friend they created a really great friend for themselves as well. It makes you want to look at every, ‘slightly off’ acquaintance in your midst and hold out a hand, lend an ear, give that attention that is like water and plant food for the Wallflower.

It isn’t until later in the book you see what an impact Bill, the teacher, is truly having on Charlie. Because the Charlie’s letters are stream of consciousness you know that Charlie must be kinda weird…but normal enough to function and do fairly well in school. It ends up being the barely sketched Bill who in the final section gives an adult viewpoint we can trust because of its sudden fullness of explanation.

And while Charlie’s own ending is slightly predictable I think that by the time you reach the climactic plot point you’ll have realized that it was never the point of the book. For all the issues held within its 200 odd pages (everything from date rape, to homosexuality, to drugs) Charlie’s journey is the whole point. If there were unique circumstances, not all good, that gave such a fresh take on the world, then I can only bless the broken road that this character travels. Because it was a journey that, strangely, gives you hope for having taken.

Rating: 5/5 It’s a YA Classic for a reason people…Just read it!

Read Full Post »

Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen

BookTalk

The Waverly women are an intriguing bunch. Generations of these women are blessed with a touch of magic, and are given the care of an apple tree whose apples will reveal the biggest event in your life. Claire has taken over Waverly house, and its magical garden. She uses its flowers and herbs to run a successful catering business, where the dinner plans go beyond sustenance pairing food with a particular feeling the host wishes to impart. Roses in your cupcakes for love, Honeysuckle wine to see in the dark and reveal hidden truths. But while Claire’s gift has imparted success in her business it serves only to separate her from the community.

Sydney is running back home, back to the garden and magic she’s never embraced. Gifted with the ability to give the perfect hair cut and her daughter’s innate knowledge for where everything belongs. They are on their way to finding a home in Bascom. However, magic will not solve all problems and these women will have to repair their relationship and find strength in their hearts to receive the greatest gift of all…love.

Review

I liked this novel even more than my first read with Allen…The Peach Keeper. Garden Spells was Allen’s first novel and it contains more magical realism than her latest, The Peach Keeper. All of the magic is wonderful. Claire, Sydney, Bay, and even Aunt Evanelle are all gifted with a certain degree of magic. Claire can control the gifts of the family garden to elicit specific feelings in her diners. Sydney can give you a haircut that will change your life. Bay knows where everything belongs, from where the soup spoons go in your kitchen, to the person you’re meant to spend your life with. Although, of all the Waverly women Evanelle was my absolute favorite…she is taken over by an overwhelming need to give people gifts. The gifts are ones you’ll want to keep around as they will prove intimately necessary for you…from a ball of yarn needed a week later to finish a school project, to the condoms you were too embarrassed to use thus resulting in a pregnancy. When Evanelle gives a gift you use it!

The town of Bascom, North Carolina has relegated the Waverly women to the status of Odd-with-a-capital-O…and they wouldn’t be wrong. These women are definitely weird, but in a good way. The sisters in this story are haunted by the memories of their mother. Scarred in different ways by their upbringing, or lack thereof, Claire and Sydney have both run from the connection they need from their ancestral home…and each other. The magic of this story is delightful…like slipping into a cozy chair with a nice cup of coffee…But it simply adds a flourish on top of wonderful story of two women facing their fears and coming into their own.

Save this tale for a quiet morning. It’s a real girl’s book, full of beautiful things and hints of magic we all wish we had in our lives. Plus, at 200 pages, like Addison’s other works, it’s easy to devour in a short span. The problem is…you’ll want it to last for so much longer.

Rating: 8/10

Read Full Post »

Bruiser by Neal Shumsterman

BookTalk

On the outside he was The Bruiser, Voted Most Likely to Get the Death Penalty. A big, lumbering, withdrawn kid from the wrong side of the tracks. A kid who looked like he could take you down with one punch just for talking to him.

On the inside he does the impossible. He takes away all pain. He absorbs all physical and emotional anger, frustration, and bruises from those he cares about.

Brewster has begun dating Bronte. Bronte has always had a soft spot for strays and what begins as a mission quickly becomes real romance. Bronte’s twin Tennyson doesn’t like this development at all. With their parents on the brink of divorce, lacross championships to win, and girlfriends to keep, Tennyson has enough on his plate without worrying about a loser like Brewster ‘The Bruiser’ dating his sister.

But Bronte fights for the relationship and Tennyson begins to find a soft spot for Brewster. And unfortunately, Brewster finds room in his heart for the twins. A tale told from the alternating perspectives of these three characters, you’ll watch as they learn Brewster’s secrets slowly…and realize their implications when it’s almost too late…

Review

I was excited for this book. It’s such an interesting idea…watching someone who could take all pain away from another become intertwined with other people for the first time in his adult life. This is bound to end badly right?…you have to love a book where you can see the train wreck coming from a mile away. The family Brewster becomes involved in has it’s crisis…however they’re all pretty standard: divorce, teenage relationship dramatics, general stress. It appears as though Brewster’s life with his Uncle’s alcoholism and the random beatings of Brewster’s brother Cody (which obviously become absorbed by Brewster) are a bad thing. And a move to this seemingly normal suburban family would be a good thing. This is just what Shumsterman wants you to see in the beginning.

What the novel eventually manifests as its central topic, is the discussion of our ability to walk away from a painkiller. Brewster unwittingly becomes a buffer for anyone he cares about. Wanna play harder in a game? Have Brewster come watch, he’ll take all the hits for you. Girlfriend hurt your feelings? Sit next to Brewster he’ll take the pain away and leave you with contentment. The characters figure out the connection between their emotional happiness and Brewster’s ability much slower than the reader. They focus on the standard abuse of Brewster’s Uncle rather than see how their lives are ruining Brewster’s in a far greater capacity. In the end the reader wonders which situation was worse for Brewster and if anyone can give to Brewster what he naturally allows other people to have…Happiness.

Shumsterman wants the story to culminate with the question of: If we never feel pain how will we recognize happiness? I think the question has merit but isn’t one that Shumsterman asked early enough to really answer. The characters take so long in realizing Brewster’s ability and what their lives have done to him that adding this philosophical question to the plot kind of feels like it was simply tacked on. A stronger ending might have resulted from allowing the characters to truly deal with their drug-like addiction to Brewster’s ability. I much preferred when the character of Tennyson realizes that he’s not strong enough to walk away from Brewster’s gift. I wanted everyone to deal with that…I wanted vindication for Brewster! But in my eyes it never happened. Well, obviously something happens, the book ends, but I wish it would have been more of a breakthrough for the characters.

I did enjoyed the book. The format of various character views as well as varied writing formats (Brewster shares his story in free verse) kept the delivery fresh. This also helped Shumsterman pace the plot so the reader has revelations way before the characters. The knowledge of what this family is doing to Brewster is what drives the reader on…You’re waiting for everyone to realize what they’re doing and to fix the situation. But, like I said, I didn’t really feel that that happened in this story. I don’t know that in the end the characters are really ready to look out for Brewster’s best interests…I don’t think they learned their lesson at all. But maybe that’s the point.

Rating

8/10

Read Full Post »