Book Cover Image:
Book Summary: This
is the story of a teen suicide. Hannah
Baker is a high school student who takes her life, but leaves behind a set of
tapes, that include 13 stories, that she recorded before her death explaining
the roles different people had in her life that led to her decision. The story follows Clay, as he receives the
tapes. He must listen to all of the tapes
in order to figure out why Hannah made the decision she did. Her rules are that each person who receives
the tapes must listen to all 13 stories, and then mail them to her person that
follows their tale. As he listens, he
goes around town to the places Hannah speaks of. He interacts with the people who are also on
the tapes. Clay takes an emotional
journey as well to figure out why exactly it is that he is included on this set
of tapes.
APA Reference of
Book:
Asher, J. (2007). Thirteen
reasons why. New York, NY. Penguin Group.
Impressions: Thirteen
Reasons Why is a griping book that would be hard for anyone to put
down. Once Clay begins listening to the
tapes, readers will join right in with his need to listen to them. It becomes addicting to find out why Hannah
made the decision she did, and who influenced her choices. While this is a heartbreaking story of
someone’s agonizing pain during adolescence, it is certainly a compelling
story, which is why it has become an international best seller.
This book is a wonderful example of realistic fiction that
addresses an issue many authors might be afraid to touch. Teen suicide is becoming a more prevalent
issue and it is good to have a book that dives into the issue head on. This would be a good story for students to
read to understand how their actions affect others. Hannah’s description of how everyone
influenced her and her story certainly doesn’t leave your mind once you have
put the book down. Seeing the story
through Clay’s eyes could also be something that would help young adults
struggling in the way that Hannah was.
Perhaps seeing that people care, even if you are not aware of it, would
help teens in a similar position to Hannah.
Professional
Review: “I hope
you’re ready, because I’m about to tell you the story of my life. More
specifically, why my life ended. And if you’re listening to these tapes, you’re
one of the reasons why.”
Clay Jensen
didn’t know what to expect when he unwrapped the package left on his doorstep,
but he certainly didn’t anticipate a handful of cassette tapes, recorded by his
late classmate, Hannah Baker, detailing the trickle of events that led to her
suicide.
“Thirteen
Reasons Why,” Jay Asher’s debut novel (new in paperback), is a cutting
narrative that probes into the crumbling universe of a teenage girl who only
wants to fit in, and the petty betrayals of the peers she had hoped to call
‘friends.’ The story is unique in that while it is written solely in
first-person narrative, the role of protagonist is embodied by both Clay and
Hannah, the former as he tries to piece together the enigma of the girl he
wished he had known better, and the latter via her aural transmissions through
Clay’s headphones. The voice coming from the Walkman is punctuated by Clay’s
reactions to her story, jarring the reader into realizing that the character of
Hannah, who we are only beginning to know, is already gone, and that there can
be no happy ending to her tale.
The “Thirteen
Reasons” in the book are all people who affected Hannah’s final decision in
some way, the same people we all knew in high school: the ones who fuel the
rumor mill by turning an innocent kiss into a scandal, the coveted “Miss
Popular” who picks up friends as charity cases and dumps them on the pavement,
and the worst of all, the nice kids who sit by and do nothing to stop the
torment. Through her cassette tapes, Hannah reveals to Clay (and the others who
received the package before him) how minor slights can go from pebbles being
flicked to the final boulder’s crash.
At once a
compelling story, “Thirteen Reasons Why” is also a sharp look into the brutal
world of adolescence and the violent impact it can have on a sensitive soul.
Bullying, gossip, parental neglect, and even sexual assault are touched on as
we, like Clay, try to unravel the “tight, well-connected, emotional ball” of peer
cruelty that led a bright, happy young woman like Hannah to
suicide.
As a survivor
of that vicious teenage world (and in memory of those who were lost), I would
recommend “Thirteen Reasons Why” to all young people who feel trapped in the
labyrinthine world of peer pressure and to anyone who has stumbled upon the
tragedy of suicide and asked, “Why?”
Source: Connolly, C. (2011).
[Review of the book Thirteen reasons why by J. Asher].
Watermark Books and Café. Retrieved
from http://www.watermarkbooks.com/“thirteen-reasons-why”-jay-asher
Library Uses: This would be an excellent book to use in
the library with middle or high school students. I think the content is too young to use with
elementary school students. After having
read the book, when your students have a good understanding of the content,
have the students work in groups. They
must come up with some type of anti-bullying campaign. This can be an infographic, video, website,
or any other technology that the students have worked with. Have the goal to be to raise awareness about
the effects of bullying. Groups can use
the Internet for help with statistics, but they must also draw on things they
learned in the book to incorporate into their presentation.
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