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"The Perks of Being a Wallflower" by Stephen Chbosky

11/20/2012

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Title: The Perks of Being a Wallflower
Author: Stephen Chbosky
Genre: General Fiction / Romance
Number of Pages: 225
Date Published: February 1999

*This is special double review - the rating and recommendations from the reviews appear alongside their individual reviews


Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
Recommended: Yes

The Perks of Being a Wallflower is a book narrated in letters by Charlie, a freshman in high school. The book opens with Charlie’s first day of high school, as he reflects back on his best friend’s suicide in middle school and his favorite aunt’s death. Charlie is an innocent narrator, which makes the book very intriguing because it feels as though the reader is  going through his experiences for the first time as well. Charlie encounters serious issues in high school detailing both family and friendship; sexual abuse and abusive relationships; first love and sexuality; drugs and alcohol; and depression. These real issues and situations are presented in such a way that readers can easily relate to them. Also, the characters are diverse enough that every reader can find someone to identify with.

I read this book in my sophomore year of high school, again my senior year, and I recently opened the binding a third time at the beginning of this year (my freshman year). It is amazing how this book continues to be relevant even though it is told from the perspective of a high school freshman in the ’90s. In fact, the issues it touches on are so universal that I argue it’s impact could be eternally significant. The book is well written with deep, quotable sentences on each page.

It did not take me long to read The Perks of Being a Wallflower. Since it was composed of letters, the chapters were short and left me wondering what would come next. I really love this book.  It made me think a lot about life, happiness, and what it means to be human. It also opened my eyes to what some people have to go through. I was able to relate to some of Charlie’s experiences; he is a very real  and complex character who I wish I could meet and have a conversation with.  The book was a roller coaster of feelings – at times I laughed, and sometimes I even cried. The Perks of Being a Wallflower is one of those books I feel everyone must read. John Green nicely sums up my feelings about it: “Sometimes, you read a book and it fills you with this weird evangelical zeal, and you become convinced that the shattered world will never be put back together unless and until all living humans read the book.” – The Fault in Our Stars. So stop reading this review and pick up The Perks of Being a Wallflower. (And watch the film after – it is a great complement to the book!)

Review by Colleen Brady, A&S '16


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Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
Recommended: Yes

Making it through high school is difficult. Among the angst-ridden issues are ever-changing friends, a persistent search for your true identity, a multitude of crushes or lackluster relationships, and way too much meaningless homework, growing up as a teenager can be a bit overwhelming. Yet what is arguably more difficult is finding a book that manages to accurately reflect the emotions and the reality  so many teenagers encounter. Perks of Being a Wallflower  manages to do this beautifully, and surprisingly in a meaningful manner. The story is revealed in the form of letters, which the protagonist, Charlie, a freshman in high school, writes to a mysterious “friend.” In the letters, Charlie discusses all aspects of his life, detailing his weeks much like in a diary. The letters follow Charlie’s life, from the constantly developing relationships with his family, his classmates, and his friends, and all of the crazy and ordinary things they do together. The letters provide an interesting insight into Charlie’s mind, as he writes the questions and concerns about life that many people would not admit to thinking about. Charlie’s emotional journey is entertaining, funny, and moving, with a relatable cast of characters and moments that will make you laugh and cry. The Perks of Being a Wallflower is, essentially, a coming of age and very Catcher in the Rye type of novel that will entertain, but more importantly inspire as well.


Review by Caitlin Mason, A&S '16



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"The Broken Cord" by Michael Dorris

11/13/2012

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Title:  The Broken Cord
Author: Michael Dorris
Genre: Memoir
Number of Pages: 281
Date Published: 1989
Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
Recommended: Yes!

Set in the early 1970’s, the voice and hand behind The Broken Cord, Michael Dorris, decides that he would like to become a father. Single, and without an ounce of parental experience, Michael applies to adopt a young Native American boy. It is here that the novel begins, and serves as an account of Dorris' struggle to understand the physical and mental impairments of his sweet and loving son Adam.  Dorris begins his quest for the answers behind his son’s difficulties and searches to find out more about Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, which is the clinical condition that Michael discovers is affecting his own son.  Michael’s account is told with such openness that it would engage the heart of any sensitive, knowledge-seeking individual  whether or not those symptoms were found among loved ones or friends.


Michael Dorris explores the disintegrating culture of Native American communities within the United States, of which he was a part of as a child and now values as an adult.  The prevalent abuse of alcohol and other damaging substances among these communities is explained and examined by Dorris in both an informative and understanding manner.  A product and student of the Native American community, Dorris can show us how two cultures wrestle with such issues. Or, alternatively, how two versions of the "social contract" might try to cope with the human devastation inherent in a woman's consumption of drugs during her child-bearing years. His research led him to the realization that FAS and FAE have been surmised and counseled about in most of Western culture as far back as Ancient Greece.

I recommend The Broken Cord as a personal story, admirably told and exhaustively researched, which will add one more example to our human dilemma to keep rights and duties in balance in the course of our own personal exploration for meaning and justice for the communities of which we are all apart. 


Review by Morgan Healy, Lynch '16



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"Dark Places" by Gillian Flynn

11/13/2012

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Title: Dark Places
Author: Gillian Flynn
Genre: Thrillers / Suspense
Number of Pages: 368
Date Published: 2010
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

I long ago abandoned reading mysteries because it began to seem that they all followed the same overdone formula.  It doesn’t take a Sherlock Holmes to predict the ending of most mysteries, even after reading just a few chapters.  There are always exceptions to the rule, however. My interest in Gillian Flynn was sparked while working at a bookstore this summer. Customer after customer came in asking for the author’s books, so I eventually decided to give her a chance and picked up Dark Places.  I was surprised to find myself so quickly enthralled in the dark, twisted story of the Day family.  The story is told through the eyes of Libby Day, the youngest of four siblings.  When Libby was just seven years old, she became famous for testifying against her brother when the rest of the family was brutally and mysteriously murdered in what comes to be known as the “Satan Sacrifice of Kinnakee, Kansas.”  Libby is approached by a strange organization called the Kill Club, whose interests lie, as you may have guessed, in unsolved murders.  Funded by this club, she delves back into her past to discover what really happened to her family and determine whether her brother, who she previously accused of the murder, is truly guilty.  In this process, Libby yet again finds herself in grave danger and must escape the clutches of a murderer.  I loved this book because it was a ridiculously fun but dark read with an interesting premise that didn’t disappoint.  Flynn is a talented writer and deserves the great buzz she has received for her novels Dark Places, Sharp Objects, and her most recent bestseller, Gone Girl.  If you love mysteries and thrillers but want to read something fresh, I highly recommend this book.


Review by Maria Peroni, A&S '16


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"The Night Circus" by Erin Morgenstern

11/5/2012

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Title: The Night Circus
Author: Erin Morgenstern
Genre: General Fiction, Fantasy
Number of pages: 512
Date published: 2011
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Recommended?: Yes

I usually shy away from fantasy literature, often proclaiming that I prefer to read stories that could actually happen in our world, but I’m glad I broke that self-enforced rule for The Night Circus. The story begins with a twist of fate: a young Celia is given to her father, Prospero the Enchanter, an extremely talented magician of questionable character. After Celia breaks a teacup without touching it, Prospero notices his daughter’s gift and challenges a man in a grey suit to a duel: Celia against the grey-suited man’s own protégé. After Celia’s opponent is selected and years of training are completed, the Night Circus is chosen as a venue for this competition. However, this nocturnal world of black-and-white stripes becomes much more than a stage for a battle, the lives of many getting tangled up in the magical circus. Beneath the wonders and pleasures of the tents and performances, though, the forces that balance the circus and the competition that drives it threaten to collapse.

The multitude of characters, the non-chronological order of the novel, and the suspenseful mystique Morgenstern creates throughout the story demand readers’ close attention. I often found myself flipping back through the pages, trying to figure out whether certain characters had been mentioned before, if certain events had already taken place at another point of time, or even important details I may have skimmed past without noticing. While the novel was thoroughly enjoyable, it demanded my full attention. It is no lazy read, not the kind of book you can relax with.

But what drives this book is not the plot, but rather the majestic, enchanting atmosphere that is the Night Circus. With her beautifully crafted words, Morgenstern creates an enticing, irresistible world, filled with intricate clocks and mazes and illusions unparalleled by anything found on Earth. Her descriptions are interlaced within the actual story of the circus, a couple pages at a time dedicated to elucidating a certain tent or attraction. Each time I would arrive at one of these descriptions, I felt like a patron of the circus, stumbling upon a new striped tent. Morgenstern creates wishing-to-be reveurs out of her readers, the characters of the book who follow the Night Circus around the globe dressed in black and white with a splash of red. The book concludes, and yet one wishes they could travel with the circus forever.

While I sometimes grew impatient for substantial plot development during the immense stretch of 512 pages, I cherished the opportunity to enter Morgenstern’s highly imaginative and elegant world of the Night Circus. The book has earned critical acclaim with seven weeks on the bestseller list, and has been rumored as a possible film down the road. I urge you to explore the enchanting novel as soon as possible. The well-deserved hype will almost certainly escalate.

Review by Laura Baumgartner, A&S '16


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"Half of a Yellow Sun" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

11/5/2012

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Title: Half of a Yellow Sun
Author: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Genre: Historical Fiction
# pages: 433
Date published: 2006
5-star rating: 4.5

Set in the West African country of Nigeria, Adichie’s novel focuses on a single event in Nigerian history: Biafra’s secession bid and the eastern part of the country’s eventual reabsorption into the country. The time frame oscillates between the early sixties and then a few years later at the end of the decade. We follow four main characters – Odenigbo, his lover Olanna, Olanna’s sister Kainene, and Kainene’s lover Richard – in the period leading up to the secession of Biafra, during the war between Nigeria and Biafra, and finally a brief era after Biafra is reclaimed into the country. Two of the tribes in the country, the Igbo and the Hausa come to a clash. There is widespread massacre of Igbo in the North, which functions as an impetus for the ultimate drive for rebellion. Some parts of the narrative are vivid and disconcerting, but they serve as excellent illustrations of the nature of the conflict. The book is long, but it is a really engaging and fast read. Adichie is a great writer and the story is gripping. The book contains a number of themes about fear and faith, the newness of modernity vs. maintaining tradition, the battle between power and identity, and love. I really loved trying to understand the different nuances present in the relationships of the couples, both Olanna and Odenigbo and Kainene and Richard. In a world that seems hopeless and virtually wretched, love seems to prevail in all of its complex forms. While very captivating, the novel ends on a disappointing and slightly depressing note, but I still found that there was a lot of valuable material to learn from it.

Review by Yande Lombe, A&S '14


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