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The Perks of The Perks of Being a Wallflower

By Emma Cooper

Published: July 31, 2014

On my very first day of high school, I was late to class, and in my rush, I tripped up the stairs as my shoes fell down the stairs. To add insult to injury, I picked myself up and turned around only to realize that an entire classroom of seniors was watching my humiliating ordeal. I flushed, picked up my shoes, and scurried off to my first class of high school five minutes late. High school is a time full of awkwardness, trials, successes, failures, and most of all, growing up. No matter the background from which someone hails, the teenage years are ones of growth and discovery. The Perks of Being a Wallflower, a film directed and screen written by Stephen Chbosky, portrays these experiences in an extremely relatable and moving manner which creates a lasting impression and perspective on the teenage experience.

Perks is adapted from Stephen Chbosky’s book, The Perks of Being a Wallflower , and was released in October 2012 with little initial success. On it’s opening weekend it only grossed approximately $228,000 (IMDb). Eventually, however, the box office did begin to pick up and the movie became fairly monetarily successful. Logan Lerman, of Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief , Emma Watson, of the Harry Potter series, and Ezra Miller all deliver stellar performances as they lead Perks ’ cast. The film, set in mid-1990’s Pittsburg, PA, portrays a timeless feel as it focuses on the narrator, Charlie, played by Lerman, as he enters his first year of high school an anxious wallflower who is struggling to find his place. However, he soon befriends the radiant and understanding Sam, portrayed by Watson, and her quirky and lively brother Patrick, portrayed by Miller. In fact, one of the best features of the movie is the spectacular acting chemistry and believability between Lerman and Watson. Additionally, Miller’s performance as the charismatic and slightly eccentric friend adds to the overall enjoyment and quality of Perks . Together, the friends open up and deal with issues such as unhealthy relationships, drugs, family pressures, bullying, and more. Almost immediately, Charlie and Sam grow very close and it becomes obvious that there is chemistry between them. As their friendship unfolds, the movie addresses a range of typical and not so typical high school dramas. Furthermore, the atypical issues that Perks deals with are what I believe make the film enthralling and different from other generic high school, coming-of-age movies.

Some critics say that Perks deals only with the same, redundant, teenage, “angsty” dramas that other high school movies commonly deal with. For example, Jordan Mintzer of the Hollywood Reporter said, “… The Perks of Being a Wallflower , a heartfelt but rather generic coming-of-age dramedy” (Mintzer). I believe, however, that his review is short sighted and that the film does, in fact, address more than just the run-of-the-mill problems. Although I cannot spoil all of these details, it becomes very obvious in certain scenes that Charlie is dealing with more than the average high schooler. This can be seen in the consistent references to his Aunt Helen’s death. While it is normal for one to be troubled by a death in the family, the number of times and situations in which Aunt Helen’s death is brought up gives a hint that there is more to Charlie’s issues than meets the eye. For example, any time that Charlie gets very stressed, Aunt Helen is mentioned. In fact, she is brought up enough that she eventually becomes a major character. While, one is not initially sure why so much attention is paid to Aunt Helen, it is obvious that the movie is dealing with more than just generic high school problems.

Another factor that makes Perks a good movie is the quality acting and the resultant depth of the characters. Some critics, such as Richard Corliss, bash the movie for casting adult actors: “Oh to be 20 again, and in high school! That’s the implicit theme of The Perks of Being a Wallflower … and of the many other rite-of-passage movies that cast actors in their early twenties to play kids four to six years younger” (Corliss). While it is true that Perks ’ actors were, in fact, in their early twenties, they all look and act convincingly like students in high school. Furthermore, Corliss’ criticism is invalidated by the quality of the acting portrayed consistently throughout the film. Lerman does a fantastic job of playing the anti-social wallflower, Charlie, and Watson is the perfect depiction of the confident and upbeat Sam. Together, their chemistry reels the viewer in to experience every emotional moment. In one of the best scenes exemplifying their stellar acting, Sam kisses Charlie for the first time. Charlie’s stuttering, hesitation, and even body language contradict but also mesh perfectly with Sam’s deliberate and reassuring actions in order to create an extremely believable first kiss sequence. Lerman and Watson play their leading roles in such a perfect manner that anyone can believe they are in high school. Additionally, everyone can relate to them and their experiences no matter what one's personal background may be.

One scene that shows the overall excellence of Perks is the final tunnel scene. In this sequence, the trio of friends drives through a tunnel and stands up while listening to “the song,” an experience which has played a major role in their friendship. Many critics did actually praise this scene for its effectiveness, and I agree whole-heartedly with them. As critic Ian Buckwalter, said, “The film is filled with moments like [the tunnel scene], where the director triggers genuine sentimentality and waves of nostalgia through interaction between sound and image” (Buckwalter). Charlie narrates the scene, as he does many other scenes, as if he were writing a letter to the audience. The reoccurring narration allows an element of insightfulness and depth that many other coming-of-age movies lack. In addition, the background music behind the narration is a light twinkling variation of bell sounds that compliments the narration perfectly. At the end of the narration, Charlie’s voice cuts out and David Bowie’s song, “Heroes,” swells to the front just as the trio exits the tunnel. This combination of music emotes a feeling of inspiration, bravery, and hope. The tunnel scene is just one example of the film's fantastic soundtrack and audio mixing, which is consistently effective throughout the entire film. Even further, the cinematography and camera angles used in the tunnel sequence focus heavily on the faces of the characters with bright bulbs of light all around them. These two images, when put together, create in the viewer's mind the image of hope and the idea of heading towards the light at the end of the actual and figurative tunnel. Together, the narration, background music, and cinematography create a scene that sends chills across one’s skin every single time. The tunnel scene, and the entire film, effectively uses film techniques and ethos in order to appeal to the audience’s emotions and cause them to feel as if they are in the movie, in the situations, and personally connected with the characters and their teenage experience.

Finally, I strongly recommend The Perks of Being a Wallflower to anyone because I believe it is well produced, superbly acted, effectively uses film techniques and ethos, and is a relatable story which strongly conveys the fact that many issues which may seem tragic oftentimes actually help one grow and mature. I especially recommend the film to its target audience of teenagers, as the lesson about life’s issues is one that every high schooler needs to understand. Perks is a timeless and relatable movie which I have already seen twice and would gladly see again.

Watch the Trailer

Works Cited

Buckwalter, Ian. "How 'Perks of Being a Wallflower' Breaks an Old Filmmaking Curse." The Atlantic . N.p., 12 Sept. 2012. Web.

Corliss, Richard. "The Perks of Being a Wallflower: A Teen Angel’s Dreamy Angst." Entertainment . N.p., 13 Sept. 2012. Web.

IMDb. IMDb.com , n.d. Web.

Mintzer, Jordan. "The Perks of Being a Wallflower: Toronto Review - The Hollywood Reporter." The Hollywood Reporter . N.p., 07 Sept. 2012. Web.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower . Stephen Chbosky. Summit Entertainment, 2012. Film.

• Where and how does the author of the piece engage with counterarguments? Do you think that the author’s interaction with these critics is ethical? Why or why not? Give at least one example.
• One of the challenges and opportunities of discussing films is that films often incorporate different media (sound, still images, moving images, lighting, text), all of which contribute to the rhetoric of the piece. What specific multimedia aspects of the film does Cooper mention that strengthen the claim of her review?
• The second paragraph of the essay offers background information for the film and a summary of the plot without spoilers for the reader who has not seen this film. What kind of information does Cooper interweave in the review that seems to be important for readers to determine whether they should watch the film? How does Cooper summarize the plot, giving specific details, without giving away the end?

Emma Cooper

Emma Cooper is a biology major and international development studies minor from Wichita, Kansas. On campus, she calls Lewis Hall her home and is passionate about working with GlobeMed and Best Buddies. In the future, she hopes to attend medical school and become a pediatric neurologist. Her piece, "The Perks of The Perks of Being a Wallflower ," is a movie review and analysis of Steven Chobsoky’s movie, The Perks of Being a Wallflower . Inspiration for this piece came from the viewing of the movie and the strong impact that it had on Emma. She would like to thank her Writing and Rhetoric instructor, professor Deborah Forteza, for all of her help with this piece and for improving her writing ability.

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The Perks of Being a Wallflower

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Writing a letter to an anonymous “Friend,” Charlie confesses that he needs someone to talk to. His best friend Michael committed suicide at the end of the previous school year, and Charlie feels lonely and afraid starting high school without any friends. Thinking about the reasons behind Michael’s suicide, Charlie wonders if Michael had “problems at home,” and then wonders if he, too, has problems at home. Charlie then describes his family and explains that his Aunt Helen was his favorite person, and she came to live with his family before she died.

In the first few weeks of school, Charlie gets into a fight when a bully starts hitting him. He explains that his brother taught him how to fight, so he ended up hurting the bully pretty badly and immediately started crying afterwards. He admits that he’s pretty emotional. He feels isolated at school, but one day in his Advanced English class, Charlie’s teacher asks Charlie to call him “ Bill ” outside of class, praises his literary abilities, and gives him extra books to read. Charlie’s sister is a senior at his school, and he feels bad for the boys who like her, claiming that she’s mean to them. His sister receives mix tapes from one boy in particular, but she gives them to Charlie, and he loves the music . One night, when Charlie’s sister criticizes her boyfriend for not standing up for himself, he hits her in front of Charlie. She continues seeing this boy and makes Charlie promise not to tell anyone about the abuse. During class the next week, Charlie ends up telling Bill about Charlie’s sister’s boyfriend hitting her, and Bill calls Charlie’s parents to inform them.

At a football game, Charlie befriends Patrick (whose nickname is “Nothing”) and Sam , two seniors who invite him to Big Boy with them. Charlie assumes that Patrick and Sam are a couple, but they explain that they’re stepsiblings, and Charlie admits to developing a crush on Sam. After the homecoming dance, Charlie rides with Patrick and Sam to a party, and as he sits between them listening to music on the radio, Charlie says that he feels “infinite.” Charlie is warmly welcomed at the party where he eats a cannabis brownie for the first time. After using the bathroom, Charlie accidentally walks in on Patrick and the football quarterback, Brad , kissing, and Patrick asks Charlie to keep this secret because Brad is afraid of people finding out. Later in the evening, Patrick appreciatively calls Charlie a wallflower, and everyone at the party toasts to him. After the party, Patrick, Sam, and Charlie drive through the tunnel towards downtown listing to music. Sam stands in the back of the truck flying through the tunnel with the wind in her dress.

Charlie continues making progress on his extra reading assignments for Bill and decides he wants to be a writer when he grows up. He starts writing for a fanzine called Punk Rocky (inspired by The Rocky Horror Picture Show) that his friend Mary Elizabeth runs. Charlie’s friends perform alongside the regular screenings of the film. When Sam starts dating an older guy named Craig who plays Rocky in the show, Charlie realizes that he is in love with her. As the holidays approach, Charlie and his friends participate in a Secret Santa exchange. Charlie draws Patrick’s name and makes him a mix tape with carefully-selected music for his first gift. His last gift to Patrick, presented at their Christmas party, is a poem that he reads aloud to the group. Patrick reveals himself as Charlie’s Secret Santa and gives Charlie a complete suit because “all the great writers” have suits. Charlie presents everyone at the party with a carefully chosen gift, the most special of which is a record with the song “Something” by the Beatles that he gives to Sam. It was a gift from his Aunt Helen. Later that evening, Sam kisses Charlie because she wants his first kiss to be from someone who loves him.

On the ride home from his family’s Christmas party, Charlie’s family visits Aunt Helen’s grave and Charlie thinks about her experiences. He writes that she was molested as a child and had drinking and drug problems as an adult, as well as a string of abusive relationships. She was the only one outside of his immediate family to buy him both a birthday and a Christmas present (since his birthday is Christmas Eve), and she died in a car accident while driving to get Charlie’s gift. Charlie feels responsible for his aunt’s death, and as he thinks about her, his mental health declines.

During his friends’ New Year’s Eve party, Charlie takes LSD and falls asleep outside in the snow where policemen find him and bring him to the hospital. He has a history of wandering off when his mental health worsens, and his family worries. Several days later, Charlie is still experiencing some hallucinations from the LSD and he worries that they’ll never stop. Sam gives him a cigarette to calm his nerves, and Charlie starts smoking more regularly.

One evening, when Craig doesn’t show up to a Rocky Horror Picture Show performance, Charlie agrees to play Rocky. He and Sam (playing Janet) playfully touch each other to Charlie’s delight, and everyone applauds him at the end of the show. Afterwards, Mary Elizabeth asks Charlie to the Sadie Hawkins dance. He writes about his experience at the dance with Mary Elizabeth: she did all of the talking. After the dance, Charlie finds his sister crying in the basement. She tells him that she’s pregnant, and her boyfriend dumped her at the dance when she told him. Charlie promises to keep that secret forever and drive her to the clinic next Saturday.

When Charlie’s sister comes out of the clinic, she scolds him for smoking, which makes him laugh, and he makes her comfortable in the back seat. After they return home, they tell their parents that they went to McDonald’s and a movie. Charlie and his sister agree to keep her abortion a secret, and she tells him she really does love him.

After Charlie’s parents find out he’s dating Mary Elizabeth, Charlie’s dad has a conversation with him about safe sex and consent. Charlie goes on another date with Mary Elizabeth to see a foreign film and then back to her house to listen to music. They end up kissing and Mary Elizabeth lets Charlie remove her bra and touch her. As their relationship continues, however, Charlie starts feeling more resentful of Mary Elizabeth. After Rocky Horror Picture Show , Charlie and his friends go to an apartment to play truth or dare, and Patrick dares Charlie to “kiss the prettiest girl in the room on the lips.” Charlie kisses Sam instead of Mary Elizabeth. This makes both Sam and Mary Elizabeth angry, and Patrick drives Charlie home. Patrick advises Charlie to stay clear of their friends for a while. The separation from his friends makes Charlie feel extremely lonely, and he begins smoking pot regularly.

Without his friends, he spends time people-watching at the mall and getting high. When buying another stash of weed, Charlie hears about Brad’s dad catching Brad with Patrick. Brad’s dad beat him so badly that he didn’t come to school for a week. When Brad returns to school, he ignores Patrick for most of the week until Patrick finally confronts him during lunch. Brad calls Patrick a faggot, and they get into a fistfight. Brad’s football friends team up on Patrick, and Charlie steps in to protect him and ends the fight.

On Friday night, Charlie goes to Rocky Horror Picture Show to reunite with his friends. Patrick quits playing Frank ‘N Furter and watches the show with Charlie. They begin spending a lot of time together, and Patrick smokes heavily and takes large amounts of caffeine. When Patrick drops off Charlie at home after a night of drinking in the park, he thanks him for defending him in the cafeteria and then kisses him. Patrick apologizes but Charlie tells him that it’s okay and lets Patrick kiss him again.

During the last weeks of school, Charlie works hard to maintain his good grades, despite spending long nights going out with Patrick. At their last Rocky Horror Picture Show performance before graduation, Patrick decides to play Frank ‘N Furter one last time, and Charlie thinks it’s his best performance ever. Charlie’s friends go to prom while he stays home thinking about what a great time they must be having. When he goes to see them the day after, Sam breaks up with Craig because she found out that he had been cheating on her the entire time. The next day, Charlie has lunch at Bill’s house with Bill and his girlfriend, and Bill tells Charlie that he is one of the most gifted people he’s ever met and that Charlie can always to count on him as a friend.

For graduation, Charlie gives all of his friends gifts, the most special of which are for Sam and Patrick. To them, he gives his copies of the books that Bill had him read throughout the year with a note telling them both that they are his two favorite people. At the last party with his friends before they leave for the summer, Sam asks Charlie why he didn’t ask her out after she broke up with Craig, and she explains to Charlie that he can’t just put other people’s lives before his. She says that doing nothing doesn’t count as love, and that letting Patrick kiss him wasn’t being honest with him. Charlie kisses Sam, who returns the kiss and eventually slides her hand under his pants to touch him. Charlie stops her and starts feeling terrible and overwhelmed. Unable to drive home, he falls asleep on her couch. That night he has a dream that his Aunt Helen touched him the way Sam did.

After Sam leaves for college, Charlie’s mental health spirals downward, and he wonders whether what he dreamed about Aunt Helen is true. Charlie’s family finds him naked, unresponsive, and looking at a blank television, and he spends two months in the hospital. While in the hospital, Charlie realizes that Aunt Helen molested him as a child every Saturday while they watched TV. When his siblings visit him, they talk about Aunt Helen and Charlie realizes that there’s no point in blaming her for what she did to him because he would then have to blame the people who abused her, and so on. He writes that thinking that way “wasn’t going anywhere” and “wasn’t the point.”

When Charlie gets released from the hospital Sam and Patrick pick him up and drive him through the tunnel. Patrick turns up the radio, and Charlie stands in the back of the truck with the wind in his face. He thinks about how he still loves his Aunt Helen for buying him to presents, and how much he wants the people around him to be happy. He writes that this will be his last letter because the new school year is starting, and he plans to be too busy with “participating” to write letters anymore. He closes his last letter by assuring the reader that things are good with him.

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The Perks of Being a Wallflower

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Discussion Questions

Explain the relevance of the title in relation to Charlie’s character. What is a “wallflower”? And what does Charlie gain by being one?

Abuse, both sexual and physical, plays a large role throughout the novel. How does the abuse that Charlie experiences and witnesses directly influence his character? And how does secrecy play a role in these abuses?

In Chapter 39, Charlie mentions feeling nostalgic for “bad things”(139). How does he define nostalgia? And how does this relate to his aunt Helen?

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• The Perks of Being a Wallflower (2012 Film) Summary

by Stephen Chbosky

These notes were contributed by members of the GradeSaver community. We are thankful for their contributions and encourage you to make your own.

Written by Polly Barbour

Charlie (Logan Lerman) has recently been discharged from a mental healthcare hospital where he was treated for depression, something he has been suffering from since childhood. It is time for him to transition back into normal school but he is shy and doesn't make friends easily and so he is nervous and apprehensive about the start of school. He has an anonymous pen pal to whom he writes about his feelings. On his first day at school he is teased by his classmates but likes his English teacher, Mr Anderson (Paul Rudd). However, he doesn't really make any friends and ends up attending a football game by himself. He notices Patrick from his shop class (Ezra Miller) the only senior in a class of freshmen. Patrick notices Charlie and asks him to sit with him and his step-sister Sam (Emma Watson). Charlie is immediately attracted to Sam. He gets along with both Sam and Patrick and they invite him to attend some social events with him.

When he gets home he witnesses his sister Candace being hit by her boyfriend. Charlie feels strongly about domestic abuse because their Aunt Helen (Melanie Lynskey) but Candace persuades him to keep what he has seen a secret from their parents.

At homecoming, Charlie dances with Sam and Patrick and also goes to a party with them afterwards. At the party they introduce him to some more of their friends, Bob, Mary Elizabeth and Alice. Charlie also meets Sam's boyfriend Craig and feels enormous jealousy when he sees them together. Charlie eats his first pot brownie and amuses everyone with his sudden wit and insightful observations. He tells Sam that his best friend shot himself the previous year and whilst she is still processing this he leaves her to go upstairs. Once upstairs, he sees Patrick kissing Brad (Johnny Simmons) who is the star of the school football team. Patrick tells Charlie that Brad doesn't want anyone to find out about their relationship, least of all his father, because he would disapprove. Patrick asks Charlie to keep it a secret. Later, Sam tells Patrick what Charlie told her about his best friend and they welcome him into their group of friends, realizing that he doesn't really have any others.

Charlie is helping Sam study for her SATs, and as Christmas nears, they go to a party; on their drive home they hear a song that none of them know, so Sam instructs Patrick to drive through the tunnel so that she can stand up in the back of their pick-up and dance whilst the music is blasting out loud. Another nice holiday happenning is that their group participates in a secret Santa gift exchange. On the final night of the exchange Sam gives Charlie her gift - a typewriter. She thinks that it will help him because he wants to be a writer. They start to chat about first kisses, and Charlie tells her that he has not had his first kiss yet. He has never kissed a girl. Sam, meanwhile, tells him that her first kiss was from her father's boss who was molesting her at the time. She wants different for Charlie; she wants his first kiss to be from somebody who loves him, and then she kisses him. Charlie is already in love with Sam and wants to find a way to show her this even though she is dating someone else.

Charlie's birhday is on Christmas Eve, which always makes him thihk about his Aunt Helen, who died in a car accident on Christmas Eve after picking up a present for him. He is still hugely troubled by his Aunt's death and when he takes LSD at a New Year's Eve party, he has flashbacks to the night she died. He is found by police passed out in the snow.

Charlie goes to the Sadie Hawkins dance with Mary Elizabeth, and afterwards they go to her house to make out. She declares that he is now her boyfriend. Charlie doesn't want to be her boyfriend and has no interest in her but continues the relationship because he has no idea how to break up with somebody.

At another party, during a game of Truth or Dare, Patrick dares Charlie to kiss the prettiest girl in the room. He kisses Sam which enrages both Sam and Mary Elizabeth - after all, when challenged to kiss the prettiest girl in the room it is traditional to kiss one's own girlfriend. Patrick advises him to give them both some space whilst things cool down. Weeks go by and still his friends ignore him, which plunges him back into his depression, and to make matters worse his flashbacks to the night of his aunt's death are continuing to haunt him.

Brad's father caught Brad and Patrick having sex, which explains the bruise on Brad's face at school that day, but Brad claims steadfastly that he has bruises on his face because he was jumped in the school parking lot. Brad calls Patrick a faggot after the two get into a fight in the school cafeteria, and Brad's friends get involved, beating up Patrick until Charlie intervenes, which leads to reconciliation with his friends.

Patrick is upset about the end of his relationship with Brad, but becomes close with Charlie. One night he kisses Charlie, who doesn't react. He then breaks down and tells Charlie how unhappy he is. Sam finds out that Craig has been cheating on her and breaks up with him.

As graduation nears, Sam is accepted by Penn State and her friends throw a leaving party for her. Charlie helps her pack. Sam asks him why he never asked her out and one thing leads to another; they kiss but Charlie pulls away when Sam touches him on his inner thigh. He claims that nothing is wrong and continues to kiss her but she is concerned that something might be wrong. The following day as he watches her leave for school he feels very uncomfortable, and once home, has a breakdown, and flashes back to his Aunt Helen touching his thigh in the same way Sam had the night before. He calls Candace and tells her that it's his fault his Aunt died, because maybe he wanted her to and the universe manifested what he wanted. Candace sends police to the house, worried that Charlie is going to harm himself, and when they arrive he blacks out.

Charlie wakes up in the hospital. His physician (Joan Cusack) explains to his parents (Kate Walsh and Dylan McDermott) that Charlie was being molested by Aunt Helen and that he repressed the memory because he blamed himself for her death. When he is discharged from hospital a few weeks later Sam and Patrick take him out to one of the group's favorite restaurants. They drive into a tunnel and Sam tells Charlie that she has found the song that they were playing the last time they all drove through the tunnel - "Heroes" by David Bowie. Charlie climbs into the back of the truck to think about life as a whole, and kisses Sam, standing up and screaming as they exit the tunnel. For the first time he feels truly alive.

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The Perks of Being a Wallflower (2012 Film) Questions and Answers

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Study Guide for The Perks of Being a Wallflower (2012 Film)

The Perks of Being a Wallflower (2012 Film) study guide contains a biography of director Stephen Chbosky, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis.

• About The Perks of Being a Wallflower (2012 Film)
• Character List
• Director's Influence

Essays for The Perks of Being a Wallflower (2012 Film)

The Perks of Being a Wallflower (2012 Film) essays are academic essays for citation. These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of The Perks of Being a Wallflower (2012 Film), directed by Stephen Chbosky.

• Discovery in Away and The Perks of Being a Wallflower
• Film Portrayal of Education: The Perks of Being a Wallflower

Wikipedia Entries for The Perks of Being a Wallflower (2012 Film)

• Introduction

Home — Essay Samples — Literature — The Perks of Being a Wallflower — Theme of Maturation in The Perks of Being a Wallflower

Theme of Maturation in The Perks of Being a Wallflower

• Categories: The Perks of Being a Wallflower

About this sample

Words: 1158 |

Pages: 2.5 |

Published: Jun 29, 2018

Words: 1158 | Pages: 2.5 | 6 min read

Works Cited

• Chbosky, S. (1999). The Perks of Being a Wallflower. MTV Books.
• Corsaro, W. A. (2005). The sociology of childhood. Pine Forge Press.
• Flesch, J. (2013). Coming-of-age fiction (The Encyclopedia of Twentieth-Century Fiction, Vol. 1, pp. 79-86). Wiley-Blackwell.
• Jenkins, H. (1998). Introduction: Childhood innocence and other modern myths. In The children's culture reader (pp. 1-19). NYU Press.
• Kincaid, J. R. (2001). Child development. Jones & Bartlett Learning.
• McLeod, S. A. (2021). Jean Piaget's theory of cognitive development. Simply Psychology. https://www.simplypsychology.org/piaget.html
• Nodelman, P., & Reimer, M. (2003). The pleasures of children's literature. Allyn and Bacon.
• Reynolds, K. (2013). Adolescent development in fiction for young adults. In The Routledge companion to children's literature (pp. 232-245). Routledge.
• Schram, K. (2005). Coming of age: The art of growing up. Voyageur Press.
• Zipes, J. (2006). Sticks and stones: The troublesome success of children's literature from Slovenly Peter to Harry Potter. Routledge.

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