Which of these does Charlie NOT read in The Perks of Being a Wallflower?

The story behind the answer

The Grapes of Wrath is correct because Charlie never reads Steinbeck’s Dust Bowl epic in The Perks of Being a Wallflower. In his letters, Charlie works through a special reading list from his English teacher—titles like The Great Gatsby, Hamlet, and Peter Pan—each echoing themes of adolescence, identity, grief, and idealism that mirror his coming-of-age journey.

By contrast, The Grapes of Wrath (1939) follows the Joad family’s migration and confronts economic injustice and social realism—powerful, but not part of Bill’s curated picks for Charlie. To remember: think “no grapes at the wallflower’s dance”—Steinbeck’s grapes don’t make it into Charlie’s stack, while Gatsby’s jazz-age dreams, Hamlet’s existential doubts, and Peter Pan’s refusal to grow up all directly resonate with Charlie’s inner life.