The first time I read The Perks of Being a Wallflower I was in eleventh grade. Up to that point I had not identified with anything I was reading. As a child, I suffered from a speech impediment that put the fear of God in me. I was afraid to speak up and let my voice be heard. I didn’t want to learn how to read and risk mispronouncing a word I should have known. This fear followed me all the way through high school and to be perfectly honest, I still hate speaking in front of the class. I would do what I had to and force myself to read the assignments given to me in English class. I remember feeling different like there was something wrong with me for not wanting to read. I felt imprudent for not excelling in reading and writing, watching my …show more content…
From Charlie’s family problems, depression, and isolation his personality was developed with a sensitivity that could be easily understood. Slowly I developed self-confidence, I realized I just needed to search out the books I wanted to read. The significance of finding this book remains to this day. If I had not read The Perks of Being a Wallflower I would have never got into reading in the first place. Reading this book start to finish made me realize just how countless other great books could be just out of reach. I appreciated that I could seek out books only I wanted to read and not because it was assigned. More times than not we are forced into believing that all the assignments were given in school mark the horrific reading pool available to us. We were not given time in class to read any books of our own choosing. My only opinion was to cram reading in between classes and work, it turned out to be a nightmare. It’s almost euphoric how encased I can become after starting another book. Chbosky’s book influenced me to read other books by my newfound favorite artists like John Green, The Fault in Our Stars, and Veronica Roth the writer of the Divergent