Steven Chbosky’s work of contemporary fiction, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, explores many teenage topics such as experimentation with drugs and alcohol, sexuality, making friends, family relationships, and loss. The main character, Charlie, writes to an anonymous stranger, talking about his family, his friends, and his complicated, often overwhelming, feelings about growing up. While attempting to “participate” in and “fit in” in life after his best friend commits suicide, Charlie befriends a group of interesting older kids who introduce him to partying. Charlie slowly learns how to be present in life and what it is all about after his longtime crush tells him that he “can’t just sit there and put everybody’s life ahead of yours and think that counts as love.” Although the story can be a bit intense and extreme, this novel presents issues to which most any teenager can relate, receiving rave reviews from its intended teenage audience.