ISBN-13: 978-1-59514-171-2
Plot Summary
One day, high school student Clay Jensen receives a box in the mail containing seven audio cassettes. When he finally finds a cassette player (who has cassette players anymore?), he is shocked when he hears the voice on the tape: it is Hannah Baker, who had taken pills to kill herself just two weeks prior. One classmate is the focus of each side of the tape, and the thirteen sides tell the story of the thirteen reasons why each person somehow factors into Hannah taking her own life. With a map that had been mysteriously placed in his locker a few weeks ago, Clay follows the directions Hannah gives and essentially walks in her footsteps. He experiences anger, horror, sadness, and frustration as he listens to all the other stories of people he knows and anxiously waits for the tape that tells his story and how he factors into her suicide. Clay realizes how there were many moments that could have changed the outcome and with this notion, he reconnects with another girl who seems to be lost like Hannah was. Maybe this time, the outcome could be different.
Critical Evaluation
Told in the first-person narrative point of view, the reader experiences the raw emotion and thoughts running through Clay’s head as he listens to Hannah tell her story. Mostly alternating between Clay’s somber thoughts and Hannah’s biting narration, the author weaves together the lives of very different, yet authentic characters: the popular girl who would do anything to preserve her status, the scorned friend wanting revenge, the boy who rapes the passed-out girl at a party, the ineffective school counselor. Young adults will be able to recognize any of these characters in their own school and perhaps, in doing so, also recognize those who might need help. The chapters are divided up into tape sides A and B, so the anticipation builds as each tape brings Clay, as well as the reader, closer to the inevitable, tragic end. The tapes are Hannah’s words after her death, and, preserved forever and inescapable, they symbolize how every action has a reaction and everything has an effect on person, even if it is not immediately recognized.
Reader’s Annotation
Clay Jensen has just received a box of tapes from Hannah Baker, who killed herself two weeks ago. What does Hannah need to tell him, and how is his life going to change after hearing her posthumous words?
Author Information
Thirteen Reasons Why is Jay Asher’s first published novel. In his blog, Jay Asher explains, “I've worked at an independent bookstore, a chain bookstore, an outlet bookstore, and two public libraries. Before those jobs, I worked at a shoe store, a trophy shop, and an airline.” He shares that his idea for this novel came to him while working in Sheridan, Wyoming for six months. Besides his short stint in Wyoming, he has lived in California his entire life and continues to do so.
Born September 30, 1975, in Arcadia, California, Jay Asher grew up in a family that supported and encouraged his interests. He attended Cuesta College, a community college in San Luis Obispo, where he wrote two children’s books as assignments for a Children’s Literature class. He later attended California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo, where he dropped out in his senior year to pursue writing. Thirteen Reasons Why (2007) is his only published book to date. A website called 13RWProject.com launched in May, 2011 as a place where fans of the book can record their reviews and experiences as text, photo or video.
More information about Jay Asher can be found at these websites:
Genre
Young Adult Fiction
Suicide
High School
Suspense
Curriculum Ties
Curriculum Ties
N/A
Book Talking Ideas
What are the signs of depression? How do you deal with rumors? What do you do if you are experiencing suicidal thoughts? How difficult is it to be the new person at school?
Reading Level/ Interest Age
Characters are high school students; appropriate for grades 8 and up
Challenge Issues
Underage drinking, suicide, rape, sex
Challenge Defense
In defense of a challenge, I would cite these reviews as well as ALA's Strategies and Tips for Dealing with Challenges to Library Materials.
Booklist 09/01/07 review
School Library Journal 11/01/07 review
Horn Book 04/01/08 review
Voice of Youth Advocates (V.O.Y.A.) 02/01/08
Kirkus Review starred 09/01/07
Publishers Weekly 10/08/07 review
Why did I include this title?
Many of my eighth grade students have read this book or are reading it, and I was curious.
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