The Perks of Being a Wallflower
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50 free The Perks of Being a Wallflower trivia questions with answers — literature quiz, new questions added Oct 2026.
Stephen Chbosky's 1999 novel follows Charlie, a shy and watchful freshman, through one school year of new friends, first love, mixtapes and old grief, told in his own unguarded voice. It became a word-of-mouth favorite among teenagers and a fixture of school reading lists, and in 2012 Chbosky turned it into a film that found a second generation of fans. This quiz covers both versions. The book questions follow the plot from Charlie's first day of high school to the epilogue: his friends Sam and Patrick, his family, his English teacher's reading list, the parties, the dances and the songs he cares about. The film questions cover the cast, the soundtrack, how the adaptation got made and what its author did next. It is for readers revising for a class quiz or reading test, for book clubs, and for fans of the film who want to see how much of the story has stayed with them. A few questions touch on the story's heavier themes, as the novel does. Every answer comes with a short explanation.
30 of 50 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01Which word does Charlie use for how he feels riding with Sam and Patrick in The Perks of Being a Wallflower?
Infinite
Infinite is the word Charlie reaches for on a night drive with a perfect song on the radio. It returns on the last pages, when he stands up in the back of the truck himself.
Q 02Which actress pitched The Perks of Being a Wallflower to Hollywood studios herself before playing Sam on screen?
Emma Watson
Emma Watson flew to Los Angeles and met executives at the major studios after learning nobody wanted to fund the film. One of those meetings won the green light in January 2011.
Q 03Charlie assumes Sam and Patrick are a couple in The Perks of Being a Wallflower, but how are they really related?
Stepsiblings
Stepsiblings is the answer the two seniors give, laughing, when Charlie asks how long they have been dating. He is relieved, because he already has a crush on Sam.
Q 04Which David Bowie song plays as Sam stands up in the truck in the film The Perks of Being a Wallflower?
Heroes
Heroes took the place of the soft Fleetwood Mac ballad the novel uses, because the director wanted a driving anthem for the tunnel. The friends spend the film trying to learn its name.
Q 05Which TV channel's book imprint first published The Perks of Being a Wallflower through Pocket Books?
MTV
MTV Books published the novel, and by 2000 it was the imprint's best seller with 100,000 copies in print. School reading lists and a cult following came next.
Q 06During which party game does Charlie kiss Sam instead of girlfriend Mary Elizabeth in The Perks of Being a Wallflower?
Truth or dare
Truth or dare turns sour when Charlie is dared to kiss the prettiest girl in the room and picks Sam. Mary Elizabeth storms out, and his friends keep away from him for weeks.
Q 07Which nickname sticks to Patrick in The Perks of Being a Wallflower after he objects to being called Patty?
Nothing
Nothing was his own joke turned against him: he demanded his full name or no name at all, and classmates took the second option. Charlie first meets him under that name in shop class.
Q 08Which secondhand Christmas present does Sam give would-be author Charlie in The Perks of Being a Wallflower?
A typewriter
A typewriter, old and well used, is Sam's present, and she types a request that he write about her one day. Charlie gives her a Beatles record that his aunt once gave him.
Q 09The Perks of Being a Wallflower keeps returning to the American Library Association's yearly top ten of what?
Most challenged books
Most challenged books is the list, and the novel has made it in many years since 2004 for its candid treatment of sex, drugs and suicide. A Chicago-area school board voted in 2013 to put it back in classrooms.
Q 10The Perks of Being a Wallflower is set in the suburbs of which city, the birthplace of author Stephen Chbosky?
Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh is where Charlie's freshman year plays out, and Chbosky filled the story with his own memories of growing up in its suburbs. He returned there to shoot the film in 2011.
Q 11Which actor plays letter-writing freshman Charlie Kelmeckis in the film The Perks of Being a Wallflower?
Logan Lerman
Logan Lerman took the part soon after first playing Percy Jackson. The surname Kelmeckis appears only in the film, since in the novel even Charlie is an alias.
Q 12Which actor plays Patrick, Sam's flamboyant fellow senior, in the film The Perks of Being a Wallflower?
Ezra Miller
Ezra Miller won the Boston Society of Film Critics' supporting actor prize for the part, straight after starring in We Need to Talk About Kevin.
Q 13Which comedy star plays Mr. Anderson, Charlie's English teacher, in the film The Perks of Being a Wallflower?
Paul Rudd
Q 21Which school dance is Charlie's first date with Mary Elizabeth in The Perks of Being a Wallflower?
Sadie Hawkins
Sadie Hawkins dances have the girls do the asking, and Mary Elizabeth then talks through most of their first date. Charlie comes home that night to find his sister in tears.
Q 22Which Rocky Horror Picture Show character does Patrick play on stage in The Perks of Being a Wallflower?
Frank-N-Furter
Frank-N-Furter is Patrick's part, and he gives it up after the fight with Brad. He comes back for one last performance in the final week of school.
Q 23Which song by the Smiths does Charlie put twice on a mixtape for Patrick in The Perks of Being a Wallflower?
Asleep
Paul Rudd plays the teacher who slips Charlie extra novels to read and essays to write. He joined the cast in April 2011, only weeks before filming began.
Q 14Charlie tells The Perks of Being a Wallflower entirely through letters to a stranger, making it which kind of novel?
Epistolary
Epistolary novels unfold through documents, and here every entry is a dated letter that opens with the same greeting. The reader never learns who receives them.
Q 15How did Charlie's beloved Aunt Helen die in The Perks of Being a Wallflower while out buying his birthday present?
A car crash
A car crash took her life that evening, and Charlie has blamed himself ever since. Apart from his parents, only she bought him separate gifts for his birthday and for Christmas.
Q 16Patrick's secret boyfriend Brad plays which position for the school team in The Perks of Being a Wallflower?
Quarterback
Quarterback Brad is so afraid of being found out that he will only see Patrick in secret or at parties where the guests understand. Charlie finds out by walking in on them.
Q 17Which courtroom classic is Charlie's advanced English class reading as The Perks of Being a Wallflower begins?
To Kill a Mockingbird
To Kill a Mockingbird becomes one of Charlie's favorite reads of all time, and he likes to go through every assigned title twice. His teacher soon starts handing him extra novels.
Q 18Which drug does Charlie take at a party in The Perks of Being a Wallflower before police find him in the snow?
LSD
LSD brings on flashbacks of his late aunt that Charlie cannot shake. He never tells his family about the party, to keep his friends out of trouble, and swears off the drug.
Q 19What does Charlie eat at his first party in The Perks of Being a Wallflower that leaves him craving a milkshake?
A brownie
A brownie baked with marijuana gets Charlie high for the first time, after he has already turned down a drink. Sam makes him the milkshake he asks for.
Q 20Which first name does Charlie's English teacher invite him to use in the novel The Perks of Being a Wallflower?
Bill
Bill is what the teacher prefers, and he marks Charlie's extra essays hard while still giving him As on his report card. At a farewell lunch he calls Charlie one of the most gifted people he has known.
Asleep is one of Charlie's favorite songs, so it goes on his gift tape, One Winter, two times over. The film kept it, and the director said the band could have named any price but did not.
Q 24In the novel The Perks of Being a Wallflower, which Fleetwood Mac ballad plays on the friends' drive through the tunnel?
Landslide
Landslide is the song in the book, but Stephen Chbosky called it a very soft ballad and wanted an epic sound on screen. He chose a different track for the film.
Q 25Which 1980s hit pulls Sam onto the floor at the homecoming dance in the film The Perks of Being a Wallflower?
Come On Eileen
Come On Eileen, the Dexys Midnight Runners single, is the moment Sam approves of the DJ's taste. Stephen Chbosky calls it one of the greatest dance songs.
Q 26What do Patrick's piece-by-piece Secret Santa gifts to Charlie add up to in The Perks of Being a Wallflower?
A suit
A suit arrives one piece at a time, from a tie and a white shirt to the jacket on the final night. Patrick's reasoning is that great authors always dressed that way.
Q 27Which older boyfriend of Sam is exposed as a cheat around prom night in The Perks of Being a Wallflower?
Craig
Craig had been unfaithful from the start, and it is Mary Elizabeth's new boyfriend who forces him to admit it. Charlie had once stood in for him on stage.
Q 28Sam heads to which university, where Charlie's brother plays football, in The Perks of Being a Wallflower?
Penn State
Penn State wants Sam there in June for a summer program, which is why she leaves so soon after graduation. In the film Charlie tutors her to get the scores she needs.
Q 29Which TV show's finale leaves Charlie's dad crying alone in the kitchen in The Perks of Being a Wallflower?
M*A*S*H
M*A*S*H had the whole family in tears, and his dad slipped out to make a sandwich so no one would see his. Charlie later buys him a tape of the episode for Christmas.
Q 30Which classic novel did Kirkus Reviews accuse The Perks of Being a Wallflower of ripping off?
The Catcher in the Rye
The Catcher in the Rye was the comparison several reviewers reached for, though Stephen Chbosky said he was not imitating Salinger's style. Charlie himself reads it three times.