"But even if we don't have the power to choose where we come from, we can still choose where we go from there. We can still do things. And we can try to feel okay about them."
Ah, my yearly reading of this absolutely beautiful book. I've read this every year since I was in the eighth grade (14) and it's still just as wonderful and just as meaningful now at 22. Sure, it's always something different that I can relate to, but the fact that I can find something to connect with each time I read it is extraordinary.
Through his letters to an unknown person, strange and troubled "Charlie" takes us through his first year of high school after his friend Michael has killed himself. Alone and wondering what high school will be like, Charlie strikes gold when he befriends Sam and Patrick. It is through the two of them that he is introduced to the world in a new way. Love, relationships, drugs, alcohol and everything else about growing up. With his new group of friends helping him discover who he is, his English teacher, Bill, helps him to figure out just how intelligent and special he really is.
It has all the makings of the perfect coming of age story. While many aspects of the story are foreign concepts to us (you'll have to read it in order to understand my meaning), there is something that we can all read and say, "Yeah, that's exactly how I felt when that happened to me." You can be 14 or 24 and this will be just as much of an enjoyable read. And if you're one who bases how good a book is on how quotable it is, then you need to head out and pick up a copy of this gem. It was incredibly difficult to narrow it down to one for the quote under the heading. There's that many to choose from.
Besides, if you haven't read it yet (where have you been?), get a head start on everyone else and read it before the movie comes out next summer. Oh, Logan Lerman. How I can't wait to swoon over you (regardless of how bizarre, yet honest the character is).
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