Looking back, I'm sure most would agree that the first day of high school was a pretty traumatic one. High school in general can be quite a traumatic, dramatic experience, especially for a shy, emotional kid who doesn't have many friends.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky is a book that puts you into the mind of this kind of kid, Charlie, and lets you get to know him.

The book is a series of letters Charlie writes about everything and anything going on in his life to an unknown person that he puts a great deal of trust in and addresses as "friend."

Charlie writes about the struggles that any freshman in high school might be going through such as friends, relationships, family struggles and experiences with drugs and sexuality, but he is also dealing with the death of his aunt Helen and the suicide of his grade-school friend.

Charlie starts out being scared of what high school will bring. But with the help of a teacher who sees how bright Charlie is, and two seniors, Patrick and Sam, who take Charlie under their wing and become true friends, he begins to realize things about himself and he begins to change.

It's the story of a "wallflower" who learns that participating in life instead of "standing on the fringes" can offer much more. Charlie's letters are personal, endearing and shockingly honest, but innocent. You follow him as he goes to his first party, has his first kiss and his first experience with marijuana and falls in love all the while hearing about what books and songs touch him the most.

Chbosky truly captures the way a freshman boy might speak and think and draws you into the life, thoughts and feelings of Charlie in a style that resembles Salinger's Catcher in the Rye.

Things get more complicated toward the end of the book as Charlie begins to feel a depression that has plagued him before and discovers a shocking secret about his Aunt Helen.

Though he takes some time off to recover and think about things, Charlie is back by the end writing that he will be starting his sophomore year of high school and isn't really scared this time. He's ready to participate in life and find the things and moments that make him feel truly "infinite."