Author: Stephen Chbosky
Genre: YA Fiction, Standalone
Published: 1999
Personal Rating: 4/5
Yearly Count: 29
All of Charlie's letters begin with "Dear Friend". He writes these letters on a regular basis starting at the end of the summer before his freshman year of high school. His ups and downs of the entire year are shared with this "friend" - meaning, it's a coming-of-age story in epistolary form.
My first thought when I closed the book was that it was very good book, but pausing for a second helps me to remember that I was quite surprised, several times, at some of the content and believe it is for the very mature young adults. It contains many of the typical trappings of high school and family dynamics that create a fairly good picture of reality, but there are some way-out-there scenes, as well. And, as smart as Charlie is supposed to be, one would think he would have had a better vocabulary. Other than that, Charlie grew on me and kept me interested.
I really enjoy epistolary novels, so that alone has given this one a step up on the rating scale. It just does.
YA books seem to be tackling more graphic issues these days.
ReplyDeleteI love this book! I'm glad you enjoyed it for the most part.
ReplyDeleteI think charlie has a pretty good vocabulary, and really...he's smart, but he's still pretty young so I think it works. :)
Oh, I have an interview with the author up. Link on the left sidebar if you want to see!
-lauren
I agree, this book is definitely for a mature young adult audience. I think Chbosky does a wonderful job of capturing the true emotions of teenagers.
ReplyDeleteBermudaonion ~ DEFINITELY! I think that's why they are more popular with adults now, too. :)
ReplyDeleteShooting Stars Mag ~ I thought his vocabulary would have been better because of all the books he read, that's all - nothing major.
Thanks for commenting and I'd love to come by to read the interview. Thanks!
I enjoyed your review. I read this book last month and rated it 4/5. I just really liked Charlie and the older kids that took him under their wing. They weren't always good influences but I think they really cared about him.
ReplyDeleteCharley ~ Sorry, Charley. I'm watching TV and fooling around on the computer, so I didn't know you commented.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the true emotions. I think that was done very well.
Framed ~ Sorry, I didn't see you either. :)
ReplyDeleteI really liked him, too. He was a neat kid. I kept flip-flopping on whether they really liked him or not, but in some ways that was perfect because that's how teens truly act. :)
I had seen this one somewhere before. Glad you liked it. I had thought it sounded good. I find a lot of YA books do seem quite mature but then I think that the kids seem to be in such a different world than I was as a young adult and that's probably why. It does go along way to make these novels so accepted by adults now though. I really enjoy a lot of them that I read.
ReplyDeleteThanks for posting the review! I try to keep up with YA books because I have a 14 year old reader that I need to keep up with. I actually like reading many of them myself, but am often surprised at what the publishers deem fit for YA.
ReplyDeletei've had this on my to-read list for a while, but now i'm hoping to get to it sooner than later. thanks for the review!
ReplyDeleteDar ~ I agree, the world is a different place. I just watched a clip about a 15-year-old girl that gave birth to a baby who was impregnated by a 13-year-old boy! At conception she was 14 and he was 12! WHAT THE HECK!?!
ReplyDeleteTerri B ~ That's great that you read a lot of what you 14-year-old may read. I think the really "good ones" are those that are most controversial or give details that they wouldn't learn about from other more literary books.
Alisonwonderland ~ I liked Charlie. I think you will, too. :)
Dar ~ Okay - the baby wasn't impregnated by the 13-year-old boy, the 15-year-old girl was. LOL
ReplyDeleteGEEZ. Do I know how to write a sentence or what?!
I love epistolary works, as well as young adult fiction, so this one's definitely going on my TBR list. I remember Framed giving it a good review last month, too.
ReplyDeleteI've read a a few reviews of this one, and I just can't quite get a handle on if this is a book for me or not. Guess I'll just have to give it a try, huh? :)
ReplyDeleteLes ~ I planned on reading this last year for my YA Challenge and never got around to it. I'm glad I finally did. Hey! Did you make a list of epistolary novels? I believe a fellow blogger had a list going or there were suggestions in the comments. I think I found one that I didn't know about. Hmmm I'd love to read more.
ReplyDeleteDebi ~ What's causing you to doubt?
I read this one back when I was in high school and really loved it. I've reread it a couple times since and still count it as one of my favorites for YA lit. Great review!
ReplyDeleteSamantha.1020 ~ Wow! I don't do rereads because there is simply not enough time to get to the books I want to read once! You must have really loved it. :)
ReplyDeleteJoy, I've been meaning to respond to your response to my comment! Just now getting back to you. I had an epistolary end cap at work. Maybe that's what you were thinking of? Anyhow, you can see it here, if you like.
ReplyDeleteLes ~ I have no idea what I was thinking of, Les. Sometimes my brain just doesn't work as I would like it to. :)
ReplyDelete