Even though I raised several teenagers, I had never read this book before. Now I can see why some parents may have concerns about this book being read by middle school or younger children. However, I think that this book when read by high school students could be the basis for diverse curriculum topics. After all, by high school, most students have been exposed in some way to all of the controversial topics in this book. In addition, it provides another framework for discussing all of these under the umbrella of a "coming of age" story. These stories have always walked the edge of "acceptable" topics because of the desire to shelter children as long as possible from the world. ( )

Vivir al margen ofrece, una perspectiva única. pero siempre llega el momento de entrar en escena y ver, el mundo desde dentro. Charlie es un chico realmente especial: lee muchísimo, no sale con amigos ni con chicas y reflexiona sobre el mundo desde un punto de vista muy particular. Su ingenuidad, su incapacidad para relacionarse normalmente y su extrema sinceridad le crean más de un problema, especialmente ahora que su único amigo ha muerto. Conocer a Sam y Patrick, los chicos más populares e interesantes del instituto, provocará un giro radical en su vida que lo sumergirá de pleno en la adolescencia. Charlie, un chico ingenuo, mordaz y solitario, acaba de empezar el instituto. Vive con sus padres, su popular hermana y un hermano mayor que está a punto de comenzar la universidad. La cosa no pinta demasiado bien el primer día de instituto cuando solo consigue hacer un amigo: un alternativo profesor de lengua interesado en despertar el genio creativo de Charlie. Cuando conoce a la bella Sam y el excéntrico Patrick, unos chicos llenos de ganas de exprimir la vida al máximo, empieza a comprender lo que es crecer y hacerse adulto. Junto a ellos recorrerá caminos nuevos e inesperados: descubrirá música nueva, comenzará a salir de fiesta e incluso se enamorará por primera vez.

I really wanted to like this book. And it isn't that the story was bad. It really wasn't. But this is an epistolary novel - and the letters are written by a 15-year-old boy named Charlie who clearly has some issues socializing - like maybe he has Aspergers or something. And Charlie writes like he is about seven years old. It was, at times, painful to read. I've taught many children with autism spectrum disorder who are even younger than Charlie is, and my 11-year-old niece has Aspergers - but none of these kids writes the way Charlie writes in this novel. His writing is far too childlike. His teacher calls him gifted - tells him how bright he is - but Charlie can barely express himself, writing in clipped sentences too simple for anyone more than half his age to have written. He is supposed to be writing essays about all these novels he is reading - these are extra assignments given to him by the teacher who thinks Charlie is so brilliant - but Charlie's writing, as evidenced by his letters, is just awful. While I was interested in the story itself and determined to read the whole novel to find out what happened to all the characters, I have to admit that by the time I was a little past half-way through it, I couldn't wait for it to be over. I heard so many good things about this novel, but I just didn't happen to be as impressed with it as a lot of other people were. I hear the movie is very good - I have a feeling I may enjoy it more than the novel, which is not usually the case for me. ( )

School

2.5 ( )