During our interview today with author Chris Crutcher, he talked about how it is important for young adult readers to find stories to read that speak to the truth in their lives. What does he mean by this? How does
Perks of Being a Wallflower speak to the truth in the life of a young adult reader?
According to Crutcher, the young woman on whom Heidi was based felt like she always had to keep her painful story a secret, forever afraid that her new teachers would be like her step-father. I think allowing him to tell her story was a way for her to give back to anyone like her, who needed stories. Stories in the classroom are a way to create a safe environment where a person feels like like his/her own stories could be told, or at least understood. People need to feel like they are not alone, and the more real a story, the more their pain is validated, history remembered, or history repeated is hopefully stopped. Chbosky doesn't hold back either in terms of creating situations that frighten some parents. But they are situations that many young adults see or face, and the more real they are, the more validity they will place in the book.
ReplyDeleteRai Carmody
One of the things Crutcher said was that students probably won't want to share their story in a classroom, but they really appreciate when an author captures a story similar to their own in print. As Rai said, they feel validated by this. They also feel that they can discuss the fictional character's story more openly than their own. Teachers are experiencing a growing responsibility to report a child's story to the proper authorities as well which makes students less likely to share personal experiences. We can see this when Bill calls Charlie's parents after he tells him that his sister's boyfriend hit her.
ReplyDeleteCharlie is a perfect example of a young adult in today's society. He is so caught up in his naivety that he doesn't really understand the subculture he is entering at first. This is what happens if adults won't talk to children about important issues such as drug use, underage drinking and sex. For personal reasons this is not my own experience, but I've seen it enough in others' lives and books to realize the widespread problem. Issues of this magnitude need to be explored in literature especially if they cannot be discussed anywhere else.
Desiree Marchand
The author pointed out the importance of finding somebody telling his story which is kind of a reflection of yours or similar. He said that no normal type of person would walk in the class and start talking about stuff like that in front of his classmates without a reason so this is a more logical and powerful way for those words to be heart and read. Also, it shows the foolish way of thinking about sex drugs and homosexuality or issues like those commonly seen in today's society,like not talking to kids and teenagers about those, facing hard situations by theirselves and discovering everything or doing everything behind the parent's back.
ReplyDeleteAdrianos Vourliotakis Perdikaris
Crutcher pointed out that no person would walk in the class and start talking about their secrets in front of everyone. People need to feel like they aren't alone, the more real a story is the more people can relate to it. The more they will feel that they are not the only ones going through something, there are others out there that are going through the same things or things similar.
ReplyDeleteChbosky doesn't hold back in making situations that might scare some parents. But there are situations that many young adults see or face everyday in their lives.
- Sarah Gamelli
Young readers, especially in the middle to high school level, are in the midst of finding themselves. They are working to discover who they want to be and what they want to eventually do with their lives. They are also faced with problems that force them to grow up faster. That's why they need books that "tell the truth of their lives." They want to see a struggle and a situation that they can relate to. One that makes them feel like they're not alone in such a confusing time.
ReplyDeletePerks speaks to the truth of a young reader because it doesn't sugar coat anything. It deals with many major issues and it does so honestly. That is how life is. Nothing is sugar coated and it does not help kids if you give them books where everything is. Perks gives them someone to relate to and someone to identify with.
- Jeff Payne
Young adults should know that their life experiences matter. In Perks, Charlie starts to write letters about his experiences, not all of them seeming relevant to the "friend" but are still intriguing. During these letters, Charlie comes to the realization that he does have problems and they matter to someone. Not letting a young adult tell his or her story is censorship in itself.
ReplyDelete--Amanda Paul
What Chris Crutcher meant by the importance of how young adults find stories that speak the truth is that,if young adults find a character or experience they can relate to, they can reflect on themselves and know that it's not just them having certain experiences. It makes young adults know they aren't alone in certain situations, and if the truth is told through a book it brings up the issues young adults face, and brings the community together in how they discuss the issue in the book. Perks of a Wallflower speaks to the truth in the life of a young adult reader in that Charlie blatantly states how he feels, whether or not he blatantly states it to other characters in the book (which he does do most of the time). Through his letters, he describes his feelings and thoughts of experiences he faces, instead of just describing the experience. -Diane Stitt
ReplyDeleteI think that Chris Crutcher is absolutely right when he says that it is important for young readers to identify with the character in a book. Middle school and high school are certainly amongst the most awkward points in a kid's life, and any book that acknowledges this will then catch the attention of a younger reader. Letting a teen know that they are not alone in their struggle to discover who they really are is a great way to get an audience. Charlie, in Perks of a Wallflower, is a brutally honest character who is arguably going through the same things as the intended audience of the book, and Chbosky certainly does not sugar-coat anything that happens throughout Charlie's freshman year in high school.
ReplyDelete--Cara Tamiso
It all goes back to speaking the truth about difficult situations that all teens and people in general are faced with. It is important that young people find books that resonate for them, and the struggles they face in their lives or situation they never thought they would come into contact with. In "The Perks of Being a Wallflower" we see high school students trying drugs, witnessing a rape, being molested, etc these are things that most people attempt to avoid, pretend isn't there, and shove under the rug. It is the job of the writer to bring these tougher situations to light in a way that helps the reader understand better, or makes them feel like they are not alone in it.
ReplyDelete~Sarah SB
For high school and middle school students, having someone who understands them is extremely important. Through reading these books with characters they can relate to, they won't feel as alone in the world. Crutcher was correct when he said that these kids need someone to tell their story--especially when they are too afraid to tell the story themselves, like Heidi.
ReplyDeleteIn Perks of Being a Wallflower, Charlie tells a very important story which, as others said, shouldn't be sugarcoated for the sake of the readers that are connecting to him.
-Monica Noury
In middle and highschool students are all about finding themseleves. I also feel like it is important that they have someone to look up to and who understands them. When reading these books they wont feel like they are different or they are by themselves with the situations they go through. Crutcher means that children need people to tell similiar stories, because they won't want to do it.
ReplyDeleteIn Perks of Being A Wallflower I feel like that when Charlie writes his letters he is showing his feelings and emotions through the letters. It also shows that Charlie is going through the rough times that every typical teen would be going through
Michelle Spinney
I think that Crutcher meant since teenagers are all dealing with the challenges of growing up it is especially important that a story has some sort of truth that speaks to them. Alienation is a common feeling among teenagers, and by relating a situation or experience to their own lives they can know that someone has gone through something they're going through. Perks speaks to this truth in that it offers both a variety of issues and does so in such an honest, open, and sympathetic way that it is difficult not to relate.
ReplyDelete-Brittany
I think what Chris meant was that young readers need to find truth in what they're reading, regardless of genre; it needs to be believable, and many, if not all of us, need to see something of ourselves throughout the story to really feel the connection with the work. Not everyone has led a perfectly dandy life with a sheltered yuppie childhood in Stepford, and to see lives of characters falling short of that 'ideal' makes it real.
ReplyDeletePerks did a fantastic job in presenting an offbeat protagonist trying to muddle through high school with minimal collateral damage. That's what many of us found ourselves doing, just trying to keep our heads down and not make too many enemies, and inevitably f*cking up somewhere along the line because, despite what it feels like at 15, we don't know everything...quite the opposite, in fact.
Perks was honest and gritty in that it didn't flounce up high school with ideas of perfection and hippie-commune schoolwide friendships, nor did it exaggerate with WB style drama of one kid having a lecherous affair with a married teacher who is also blackmailing the principal for embezzling out of the art department's funds to pay for his crack-addicted teenage daughter's rehab who ran away with the biker boy who was beaten by his Uncle James who..
Young people need something real and just right to latch on to. Too little proves to be condescending that we could possibly have chips in our shoulders...too much makes us out to be crippling morons sleeping with every other crippling moron available. The medium is where the reality lies.
-Theresa
Crutcher said this quote because it is important for young readers to read things relevant to their lives. Teens and adolescents do not want to read things that make it seem like they dont have issues in their lives. They need to be able to relate to the story, to the character. Perks does this because its about a simple young boy, who goes through hell, and there is no way you can deny that any teen or adolescent has been through hell at some point in their life.
ReplyDelete-Tailyr C
I feel that many young adults are confused with who they are. These books can be a major help to some teenagers. I dont think that any book should be banned because these books are all about speaking the truth. Such as Perks of Being a Wallflower because he wrote this about an actual event that happen to a young girl and could be happening to any young adult.
ReplyDeleteTanya Jones
I think Chris Crutcher meant that in order for teenagers to figure out their own lives, they need to find examples. These examples could be in the works of literature such as Perks.
ReplyDeletePerks speaks the truth as being a young adult because of all the experiences Charlie goes through. Granted not every teen will experience acid or pot, but in any case, they can relate to Charlie because he is figuring everything out as he bumbles through life. Young adult literature, such as Perks, is a great book for any teen trying to figure out their life.
One thing is for certain, every young adult is trying to figure him or herself out. And with influences and guidance through books such as Perks or anything by Chris Crutcher, they can navigate through a time which has, typically, more angst and drama. Characters in books can take place in a teen's life and they can live out their own questions without having to actually make the mistakes which the character might make.
-Meredith I
By this he means that young adults only want to read stories about things that interest them, things that they can relate to. Without this factor you wont grab, let alone keep their attention. Also, life is not always smiles and rainbows, bad things happen to everyone, some worse than others but none the less they happen. Wither we like it or not these unfortunate truths define who we are, and allow us to mold ourselves into the people that we want to be.
ReplyDeletePerks of Being a Wallflower speaks the truth about the life of a young adult because there is something we can all relate to, wither it be sexual preference, drugs, alcohol, relation ships with family, friends and significant others. Also this novel takes it to the next step and talks about rape, molestation and child abuse.
Ariel Trudell
In saying that readers need to find stories that speak to the truth in their lives, Chris Crutcher is suggesting that readers can find a great deal of understanding of the issues in their lives if they find stories that they can relate to as being realistic or “true to life.” To many young adults, it seems safer to find an explanation on how to deal with an issue through reading about it rather than actively seeking advice from people that they may feel will judge them for their problems.
ReplyDeletePerks of Being a Wallflower speaks to the truth in the life of a young adult reader in that it gives a huge range of issues that adolescents and young adults encounter. Even if Charlie doesn’t really deal with them or fix some of the problems that he encounters, the dilemmas are still present in the story; to many young adults, this is all that matters.
The fact that issues such as teen pregnancy, abortion, hard drug use, rape, and molestation are even mentioned at all is of great importance in that many people think that they are alone in dealing with these issues and would never want to approach someone to talk about them. These are all real issues, the “truth in the life” that many adolescents experience.
-Ali Memhard
By saying that readers need to find books that speak to the truth of their lives Chris Crutcher is saying that a young reader needs to find a book they can connect too. When they are able to read books that they can relate to they realize that they are not alone with the things they have been through. A young reader could find solace in a character that experienced the same things in their lives that the reader has and can grow from reading the book.
ReplyDeleteI feel that The Perks of Being a Wallflower would be really easy for a young adult to connect with in that way because most high schools are the same and many of the experiences are the same. Once in high school, a young adult is exposed to things that they never were before such as parties, alcohol/drug use, and different types of people. As an author Chbosky provided the gritty details of high school that are easiest for young readers to relate too as they are happening around them in their own high schools.
- Emma Priester
Like Crutcher said in his interview, we all have stories that we don't want people to know. We don't share these stories because we're afraid no one will understand it; that no one will know how it felt. With books like these, the character's stories reach out to the readers; capturing their voices and giving them someone understands.
ReplyDeleteThe hardest part of reading these stories is knowing that they're true. With books like these it relates to the readers and makes it easier for them to go through it. In perks of being a wallflower they're real things that happen, it may be graphic but the stories are true. Banning books like these aren't going to change the fact that things like this are going to happen, all it will do is take away yet another voice that will help them cope. This is the kind of stuff they want to read because it's going on in most of their lives right now.