Java: BufferedReader Keeps Writing Values 128 159 as 63 When Converting to Char

I am trying to write a hex editor. I'm trying to store values by writing a char to a text file. For some reason every decimal number 128-159 is being written or read (not sure which) as 63. I took measures to isolate the problem. Here's an example of it happening:

import java.io.BufferedReader;
import java.io.BufferedWriter;
import java.io.FileReader;
import java.io.FileWriter;
import java.io.IOException;
import java.io.File;

public class Why {

    public static File file = new File("why.txt");

    public static void main(String[] args) throws IOException {
        if(!file.exists())
            file.createNewFile();

        BufferedWriter bw = new BufferedWriter(new FileWriter(file));
        bw.write((char) 144);
        bw.close();

        BufferedReader br = new BufferedReader(new FileReader(file));
        System.out.println(br.read());
        br.close();
    }
}

Any help is appreciated.

I figured it out using a FileOutputStream and FileInputStream. Thanks all.