The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky was published in 1999 and adapted into an award-winning movie in 2012.
BANNED in Leon County public schools
“I object to the glamorization of underage drug and alcohol use; the sexual situations and objectification of minor age children; the normalization of sexual assault and battery; the derogatory use of slurs and profanity”.
This is the official objection submitted by someone in Leon County who indicated they had not read the book “in its entirety.” The objection condemns the bestselling and critically acclaimed The Perks of Being a Wallflower.
A coming-of-age story, The Perks of Being a Wallflower is considered a young adult novel. Readers identify with protagonist Charlie’s narration of high school, new friends, family drama, and the often-harsh realities of adolescence.
Author Stephen Chbosky writes that Perks is his “love letter and wish for every kid who is struggling with identity.”
Perks, rather than glamorizing alcohol and drug use, depicts the substance abuse that survivors of sexual assault sometimes engage in to dull their pain. Far from normalizing sexual assault, Perks portrays the enduring effects of childhood sexual abuse on a developing mind.
“Banning books gives us silence when we need speech. It closes our ears when we need to listen. It makes us blind when we need sight.”