Module 4/Realistic Fiction/June 23-29

13 Reasons Why by Jay Asher

Asher, J.  (2007).  13 reasons why.  New York:  Penguin Group.

Summary

Hannah Baker is a high school girl who has just committed suicide by overdosing on pills.  However, before she killed herself, she left a series of thirteen tapes listing the twelve people (one person is on there twice) who may have contributed to her death.  The story is told by the perspective of Clay Jensen, one of the people on the tapes.  The tapes are sent to each of the twelve people.  After a person listens to the tapes, they are to send them on to the next person.  Before her death, she also made a second set of tapes and gave them to another boy in their grade, Tony.  Tony is watching to make sure each person listens to the tapes and sends them on.  If not, Tony is to release the tapes so that everyone can know what happened.  Clay is the only person who knows that Tony is involved like this.  In the tapes, Hannah walks each listener through the entire process, starting with when she kissed a boy and he told everyone it was more to the end when she reached out for help to the counselor but received none.  She also encloses a map so the listener can walk from place to place where each incident happened that led to her committing suicide.  

My Impression

This is one of my favorite books.  It is very haunting, yes, but it is a story that needs to be told.  As a high school teacher, I see a lot of cruelty and hurtful things said and done.  No one knows how far a mean statement or gesture can push another person.  This story takes a lot of separate incidences but shows how they combine to lead to something that should have never happened.  We now see so many kids committing suicide because of what is happening in school or online and we are not doing enough about it.  This book is a book that can change the way both children and adults treat people.  It can also teach them to stand up for one another and advocate for kindness.  

Reviews and Awards

“Everything affects everything,” declares Hannah Baker, who killed herself two weeks ago. After her death, Clay Jensen—who had a crush on Hannah—finds seven cassette tapes in a brown paper package on his doorstep. Listening to the tapes, Hannah chronicles her downward spiral and the 13 people who led her to make this horrific choice. Evincing the subtle—and not so subtle—cruelties of teen life, from rumors, to reputations, to rape, Hannah explains to her listeners that, “in the end, everything matters.” Most of the novel quite literally takes place in Clay’s head, as he listens to Hannah’s voice pounding in his ears through his headphones, creating a very intimate feel for the reader as Hannah explains herself. Her pain is gut-wrenchingly palpable, and the reader is thrust face-first into a world where everything is related, an intricate yet brutal tapestry of events, people and places. Asher has created an entrancing character study and a riveting look into the psyche of someone who would make this unfortunate choice. A brilliant and mesmerizing debut from a gifted new author."

(20 May, 2010).  [Review of the book 13 reasons why].  Kirkus Reviews.  Retrieved from 

      https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/jay-asher/thirteen-reasons-why/.

2011 New York Times Bestseller

2008 YALSA Best Books for Young Adults

Suggestions for Use

*This novel could lead into very deep and thoughtful conversations in a student book club at the library.

*A student group at the library could do random acts of kindess.