Sophie Papacosta

Doctor Warner

English 112B

27 November 2012

Annotated Bibliography: The Outsider Looking In

After reading The Perks of Being a Wallflower for my Book Talk Presentation, I read an interview with the book�s author, Stephen Chbosky, conducted by Marty Beckerman of the online literary magazine Word Riot. As Chbosky explained how he had received letters from multiple teenagers saying that his book kept them from committing suicide, he was asked how that makes him feel as a writer. In response, Chbosky said, �It�s everything at once. It�s very overwhelming. It�s beautiful on one hand, because you�re just grateful that you�re able to impact somebody that positively. It�s almost beyond words, but at the same time it�s very sad, because you realize that a book did this, as opposed to a friend, a parent, a priest or someone in the young person�s life. It�s bizarre that a book would be that final barrier between life and death. I�m happy that nobody died, of course, but I�m just sad that those young people reached such points in their lives that that�s all that was left� (WordRiot.org). For me, this quote helps to shed light on the enormous importance of young adult books like The Perks of Being a Wallflower. Judged as a freak by the few peers who actually notice him, Charlie is desperate to know why he is so different, why he doesn�t fit in with his peers, why he feels even he can�t understand himself. Ironically, Charlie�s constant internal struggle is exactly what helps to offer young adults readers refuge from the painful confusion of their own lives when they feel there is no actual person who can.

Charlie, and the other protagonists of the stories I annotated, are outside observers struggling to attain a sense of identity, and along with that, a sense of belonging or acceptance. These characters notice the details, idiosyncrasies, faults, and beauty in everyone and everything around them that others often do not. Yet, they often remain unsure of themselves. Although this acute observation leaves these protagonists feeling alienated and uncertain of their identities, their ability to articulate seemingly indefinable, indescribable feelings with absolute honesty can provide a sense of relief or connection for readers enduring similar struggles to put into words their own feelings, and to discover their own identities. Entering public high school as a freshman after five years of homeschooling and two months after the death of my mother, I realize now that I endured many of the same, seemingly inexplicable feelings of alienation, confusion, and frustration that these characters experience when I felt there was no one who understood me. Even now, these stories give me comfort even in the later years of my adolescence. Riddled with both heart-break and humor, these stories offer readers a sense of hope as these characters finally meet the people and experience the events that make it possible for them to embark on their journeys toward self-discovery and, ultimately, inner peace. Call them Loners, Losers, Freaks, Outcasts, Wallflowers. These are the characters whose stories can offer solace from the often inexpressible angst of adolescence. And for some, these are the characters who can save lives.

Chbosky, Stephen. The Perks of Being a Wallflower. New York: Pocket, 1999. Print.

Summary: The letters of this epistolary novel are written by an extremely introverted, endearingly caring, and somewhat mentally disturbed high school freshman who signs his letters with the alias Charlie, because he is too shy to even tell the person he is writing to who he is. As Charlie writes his first letter the night before his first day of high school, he retells the heart-breaking and hilarious events of his life over the span of the school year.

Commentary: Although Charlie�s stories are uniquely unforgettable, they may also be strikingly familiar to many teens who may be able to relate to his depression as well as the joy he feels at finally meeting friends who accept him just as he is. As he struggles through the highs and lows of adolescence, and grapples with the lingering pains of a family tragedy, Charlie finds friends and mentors who help him through it, leaving readers with hope for their own futures.

Salinger, J. D. The Catcher in the Rye. Boston: Little, Brown, 1951. Print.

Summary: In this classic coming-of-age story, Holden Caulfield tells of the events leading up to his stay in a psychiatric hospital. After being expelled from the exclusive Pencey Prep school, Holden leaves by himself for New York where he meets various new people, and also reconnects with many people from his past. Spending the majority of his time drinking and lonely, Holden expresses his disgust with the numerous people he identifies as �phonies,� and ultimately returns home to spend a day with his younger sister.

Commentary: The ultimate critical observer, Holden feels extremely bitter because of the alienation and lack of connection he feels with people, particularly adults. This negative attitude toward adulthood and a desire for childhood never to cease are common issues dealt with by teenagers who can probably understand Holden�s continual disappointment with the people he encounters. Although the ending of the novel does not necessarily make it clear as to whether or not Holden comes to terms with the concept of maturation, the very fact that teenagers feel they can relate to his frustration and loneliness may be enough to ease their own pain.

Anderson, Laurie Halse. Speak. New York: Farrar Straus Giroux, 1999. Print.

Summary: Speaking to almost no one at all throughout her freshman year of high school, Melinda Sordino is ostracized by her peers as a freak and a snitch for having called the police at a party over the summer. However, no one actually knows the truth about what happened to Melinda at that party. As the school year goes on, Melinda is forced to struggle with her inner demons, as well as all the other hardships that go along with adolescence and high school.

Commentary: As Melinda tells the story of her freshman year, she interweaves the devastating pain with sharp, humorous commentary about her surroundings making the book an easy, quick read. As she endures extreme alienation at school and feels ignored by her parents at home, Melinda�s confrontation with the boy who assaulted her and her ultimate decision to tell her teacher about her assault reveal the bravery she has developed even while enduring her psychological torment. This book may offer comfort or inspiration not only to high school students struggling with alienation or bullying, but also to teenagers who choose to remain silent after a sexual assault.

Green, John. Looking for Alaska. New York: Dutton Children's, 2005. Print.

Summary: �Miles �Pudge� Halter is abandoning his safe, boring and uneventful life. Fascinated by the last words of famous people, he leaves for Culver Creek, a boarding school in Alabama, to seek what a dying Francois Rabelais called the �Great Perhaps.� During his junior year in high school, he becomes encircled by friends whose lives are everything but safe and boring. The heart of the group is a razor-sharp, witty, and self-destructive girl named Alaska, who has perfected the art of pranking and evading school rules. Miles falls impossibly in love. When tragedy strikes the close-knit group, it is only in coming face-to-face with death that Miles discovers the true value of living and loving unconditionally� (From Ryan Clough�s Book Talk handout).

Commentary: Somewhat of a loner before he attends Culver Creek, the joy Miles finds in his new group of unique friends offers readers the idea that friends can be found anywhere, even in the most unexpected people. Although Miles struggles to endure the pain of losing Alaska, ultimately the valuable life lessons she teaches him before her death serve to help him overcome the pain of her death, and remind him that he is not alone in life. This book could offer support to teenagers entering a new school or dealing with the death of a friend or a loved one.

Alexie, Sherman. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. New York: Little, Brown, 2007. Print.

Summary: When 14-year-old Junior decides to attend the all white high school in a town next to the Spokane Indian Reservation that he grew up on, he immediately becomes a traitor to his Native American peers, and an outcast in his new school. Already ridiculed on the �rez� for his various health problems, where he also endures extreme poverty and physical abuse in his home, Junior initially struggles to feel accepted at his new high school, but eventually finds joy in basketball. Faced with numerous tragedies, Junior bravely endures unimaginable devastation in an attempt to strike a balance between his two lives at the all-white high school and on the reservation.

Commentary: Like Melinda in Laurie Halse Anderson�s Speak, Junior manages to convey his take on the tragic events of his life with humor, making the ups and downs of his story all the more dramatic. Like many young adults, Junior is faced with the difficulty of being accepted by his peers in multiple areas of his life: at home, and at school, by his Native American peers, and by his white peers. Though he is obviously rejected by peers from both the Reservation and his new school, Junior is able to reconcile with an old friend and meet new ones who help him to come to terms with his unique identity. Junior�s story may also be inspirational for young adults who feel alienated because of physical or mental health issues.

Thomas, Rob. Rats Saw God. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 1996. Print.

Summary: �For Steve York, life was good. He had a 4.0 GPA, friends he could trust, and a girl he loved. Now he spends his days smoked out, not so much living as simply existing. But his herbal endeavors -- and personal demons -- have lead to a severe lack of motivation. Steve's flunking out, but if he writes a one-hundred-page paper, he can graduate. Steve realizes he must write what he knows. And through telling the story of how he got to where he is, he discovers exactly where he wants to be� (GoodReads.com).

Commentary: As Steve endures family conflict and the pain of a broken heart, he unfortunately turns to drugs as a means of coping with his issues, just as many young adults do far too often. Although he is rebelliously unwilling to talk about the issues that cause him this depression, he ultimately finds that writing honestly about them is the greatest source of comfort. This book encourages young adults dealing with similar issues to open up to others about their problems-- whether it be friends, parents, or counselors--rather than keeping them bottled up inside. It also offers young adult readers the idea that being honest with others can encourage others to be honest with them, helping to build stronger relationships that can foster a more positive future.

Cameron, Peter. Someday This Pain Will Be Useful to You. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2007. Print.

Summary: �James Sveck has recently graduated from high school and is expected to attend Brown University in the fall. However, James finds himself dreaming of buying a house in the Midwest where he can live out his life in quiet solitude. An anti-social person by choice, James makes a number of missteps in his attempts to become independent, creating a situation in which nothing seems to work out as James had thought it would. Someday This Pain Will Be Useful to You is a novel of self-exploration, of one teenager dealing not only with the perils of an uncharted future, but with the trauma of a past that he cannot face� (BookRags.com).

Commentary: Much like Holden Caulfield of The Catcher in the Rye, James Sveck seems to have a general distaste for people, and finds himself feeling alienated because of these misanthropic sentiments. Still, it becomes impossible not to adore and empathize with James as he struggles to face the challenges of looming adulthood. As James endures his psychological pains, young adults can both laugh at and learn from his journey toward inner peace.

King, A. S. Ask the Passengers. New York: Little, Brown, 2012. Print.

Summary: �Astrid Jones copes with her small town�s gossip and narrow-mindedness by staring at the sky and imagining that she�s sending love to the passengers in the airplanes flying high over her backyard. Maybe they�ll know what to do with it. Maybe it�ll make them happy. Maybe they�ll need it. Her mother doesn�t want it, her father�s always stoned, her perfect sister�s too busy trying to fit in, and the people in her small town would never allow her to love the person she really wants to: another girl named Dee. There�s no one Astrid feels she can talk to about this deep secret or the profound questions that she�s trying to answer. But little does she know just how much sending her love–and asking the right questions–will affect the passengers� lives, and her own, for the better� (GoodReads.com).

Commentary: Young adult readers may be able to relate to Astrid on multiple levels because of the many unique aspects of her life. Dealing with the harsh judgment of a small-town community, a poor relationship with her parents, and confusing feelings for another girl, readers may be able to relate to any one of Astrid�s struggles. Even more so, teens will most likely be able to relate to Astrid�s desperate desire to speak about her problems to anyone who will listen and not judge her, even if it means the listener cannot hear her.

Levithan, David. The Realm of Possibility. New York: Knopf, 2004. Print.

Summary: Written in the form of free verse poems told in the voices of twenty high school students, The Realm of Possibility reveals the connected struggles of teenagers from the same high school, but from various age groups and cliques. These struggles greatly center on love and relationships, but also deal with issues such as eating disorders, family relations, depression, and sexual orientation.

Commentary: The very idea that all of the stories of these extremely different characters in the novel somehow relate to one another can offer a sense of comfort to young adults dealing with loneliness and alienation. Each character is captivating and each story is heartfelt, drawing on the deepest of teenage emotion. These stories help to remind readers that however alone they might feel, and however uncommon they believe their own struggles to be, their peers very well may be secretly dealing with equally difficult issues.

The Breakfast Club. Dir. John Hughes. Perf. Molly Ringwald and Emilio Estevez. A&M Films, 1985. DVD.

Summary: When five teenagers from the same high school but from entirely different cliques are forced to attend detention together, they eventually come to open up to one another throughout the day. Revealing their deepest fears and secrets, the unlikely bunch discovers that they have more in common than they ever could have thought possible.

Commentary: Throughout the detention period, Allison, Andy, Bender, Brian and Claire learn that they share many of the same issues such as strained familial relationships, depression, and crippling insecurities, all of which are extremely realistic issues for teens. As they begin to open up to each other, they realize how wrong their former judgments of one another are, and choose instead to accept and embrace the unique aspects of their personalities which turns out to be a beneficial process for all of them. The change they undergo may perhaps encourage young adults to put aside the critical judgments they quickly form about others and consider that they too may be enduring emotional trauma. Additionally, the characters also discuss their fears about growing up to be like their parents, a very real fear reflective of the anxieties teens feel about entering adulthood.

Other Works Cited

"An Interview with Stephen Chbosky." Interview by Marty Beckerman. Wordriot.org. Word Riot, 2011. Web. 22 Nov. 2012. <http://www.wordriot.org/template.php?ID=552>.

"Rats Saw God Summary." GoodReads.com. Good Reads. Web. 23 Nov. 2012. <http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/207889.Rats_Saw_God>.

"Someday This Pain Will Be Useful to You Summary." BookRags.com. Book Rags. Web. 22 Nov. 2012. <http://www.bookrags.com/studyguide-someday-this-pain-will-be-useful-to/>.

"Ask The Passengers Summary." GoodReads.com. Good Reads, 2012. Web. 23 Nov. 2012. <http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13069935-ask-the-passengers>.