Age: 56
male
Stephen Chbosky (born January 25, 1970) is an American novelist, screenwriter, and film director best-known for writing The New York Times bestselling coming-of-age novel The Perks of Being a Wallflower (1999), as well as for writing and directing the film version of the same book, starring Logan Lerman, Emma Watson, and Ezra Miller. He also wrote the screenplay for the 2005 film Rent and Disney's 2017 live action adaptation of Beauty and the Beast, alongside Evan Spiliotopoulos, and was co-creator, executive producer, and writer of the CBS television series Jericho, which aired from 2006 to 2008. Most recently, he directed the 2017 drama Wonder, starring Julia Roberts, Owen Wilson, and Jacob Tremblay. His next novel, Imaginary Friend, was published in October 2019.
When we first meet 14-year-old Susie Salmon, she is already in heaven. This was before milk carton photos and public service announcements, she tells us; back in 1973, when Susie mysteriously disappeared, people still believed these things didn't happen. In the sweet, untroubled voice of a precocious teenage girl, Susie relates the awful events of her death, and her own adjustment to the strange new place she finds herself. (It looks a lot like her school playground, with the good kind of swingset.) With love, longing, and a growing understanding, Susie watches her family as they cope with their grief–her father embarks on a search for the killer, her sister undertakes a feat of amazing daring, her little brother builds a fort in her honor–and begin the difficult process of healing.
