The Perks of Being a Wallflower - Stephen Chbosky

This book was an enjoyable take on adolescence. I think the author was trying to create a kinder, gentler Holden Caufield, sort of updating The Catcher in the Rye (which is referenced in the book) for a late 20th century audience. Initially the letter format sort of annoyed me, but I soon got used to it and ended up enjoying it, as opposed to reading a more conventionally structured book; I think it works well for conveying a first-person narrative of adolescence when one is an "outsider" in some way. Although I'm not in the YA target audience, I can see how this book would be valuable to young people, and I'm sure I would have loved it had I been able to read it when I was younger.