Charlie is a very smart 15 year old boy who is an about to start his freshman year in high school. He writes letters about his friends and family throughout this book. In his first few letters Charlie writes about how much he is grieving and misses his friend Michael, who has taken his own life. He has also just lost one of his other good friends Susan but still has his mom, father, brother, and sister. He gets together with his family but really only on the holidays besides his Aunt Helen who he loves dearly but she was involved in a fatal car accident. Charlie’s father run’s the house. He is in charge and no one ever questions what he tells them. Charlie knows his mother loves him and his siblings more than anything but she lets her husband lay down the rules. His brother is four years older than him and is not really involved in his life along with his sister who he has never really gotten along with. She has some issues with her boyfriend that affects her whole life and sends her down a different path than the one she had planned. Out of all the things Charlie has gone through with his family there is one memory that remains in his head from when he was watching the last episode of M*A*S*H. Everyone in his family was bonding and showing affection for each other; he loved it. The only other time Charlie felt this was when the family sat down again to watch his brother’s football game on TV.

His five best friends are, Sam, Mary Elizabeth, Patrick who his Sam’s step sister, and Bob. Bob doesn’t go to school but all the rest are seniors in high school and their main hangout spot is the Big Boy. Sam starts to get feelings more for Charlie but seems confused and gets herself caught up in an unfaithful relationship with an older boy. Charlie having such a passive personality lets his friend Patrick who is a homosexual kiss him and this goes on for quite a while even though Patrick’s father approve.

Mary Elizabeth runs the Rocky Horror Picture Show that Patrick, Craig, Sam, herself and many others perform in. She thinks she’s falling in love with Charlie but he does not have these feelings for her. Charlie lets her know that he is not interested on night when he is dared to kiss the prettiest girl and does not kiss her. Charlie begins smoking, but not only cigarettes, marijuana as well. He is able to smoke as much as he does because of one of his bff’s Bob who sells marijuana to the group of friends.

Charlie is clearly the only freshmen of the group and it is obvious he faces depression, but he seems to be able to hide this fairly well. Bill, Charlie’s English teacher says that he is one of the brightest freshmen and is very advanced in his works compared to the rest of the students.

Charlie also loves music; it helps him get away which he shows throughout the book. There is a time when Patrick, Sam and himself are in the car together and he tells them about this feeling that he feels and it is “infinite”. At the end of the book a secret is revealed to Charlie that has been kept from him about his Aunt Helen. Finding this out he returns to the same hospital that he was in around the time his Aunt Helen had died. Charlie is a very confused young man entering the beginning of his high school career. He is facing all different kinds of emotions, trying to find out who he really is. He says “even if he doesn't have the power to choose where he has come from, he has the power to choose where he is going from there.”