Modernized classic

J.D. Salinger’s “The Catcher in the Rye,” has been mod-ernized to fit our generation in Stephen Chbosky’s “The Perks of Being a Wallflower.”\nWritten in the form of letters to the reader, the story begins with the narrator, who calls himself Charlie, describing a high school guidance counselor appointment, after a student commits suicide. His writing is fueled by naivety, which is sometimes unbelievable but still captivating.\nThe story travels through Charlie’s first year as a high school student, bringing him to terms with love, sex, death and drugs. During his first couple weeks of school, he meets Patrick and Sam, who both eventually become his close friends. Throughout the year, Charlie finds himself falling in love with Sam and dealing with different cliques and challenges of high school.\nDuring the book, Charlie’s friends describe him as being a wallflower, always observing what is around him. Although he has his ups and downs in life, he learns through his friends and teachers that reaching that feeling of being infinite isn’t impossible.\nOne of the story’s most emotional and memorable scenes is when Charlie reads Patrick a poem, which is said to be a suicide note.\nThe story has the ability to make you laugh and cry while being able to drag you back into the world of high school. Even though the story ends on a relatively low note, it’s hard to hate it as a whole. Despite its unfortunate ending, it’s almost impossible to feel disconnected from any of the characters in the book. \nIt is barely more than 200 pages long and is a quick read for anyone looking to read a story modeled for our generation of geeks, freaks, punks and preps.\nThis coming-of-age tale effortlessly brings you into the mind of the current-day Holden Caulfield to prove that being a wallflower has its perks after all.