Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher

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Figure 1. Th1rteen R3asons Why book cover (2019).

Evaluation of Book

What does it take to push a person over the edge to the point of suicide when their whole adult life is just around the corner; Hannah Baker gives thirteen reasons why she no longer wanted to live in Th1rteen R3asons Why by Jay Asher. For the story, the reader watches Clay Jensen endure the tapes while he follows a map around town to see the places Hannah describes. All the while, Hannah names the people and events that caused a domino effect which led to her demise. And the extra twist to the story, each of the players get to listen to the tapes of her analysis after the suicide or else a second copy of them will be released to the public.

The plot developed by Jay Asher makes the book. Each side of a tape tells the story of a person that played a part in others treating Hannah cruelly, except one. The first person portrayed, Justin Foley, took an innocent kiss and turned it into a rumor about how far Hannah willing let him touch her. This rumor inspires eleven others to treat her poorly, with one person being a good guy. Throughout the story, Hannah foreshadows and gives teasers on who will come in the future like when she promises a cheerleader referenced halfway through will be named later. While all of this takes place, Clay Jensen’s thoughts and interactions with others gives light to how life goes on in the real world. One example, Hannah’s voice tells about how three people become friends as Clay gets on a bus and suddenly realizes he forgot to check the bus’s route. These types of moments happen often as the story plays out for the thirteen people and big events that chipped away at Hannah’s resolve to live. Throughout it all, the reader gets attached to Clay and wants him to be ok. And the book does end with hope.

Another twist to this book is the dialogue. The italicized dialogue shows when the tapes play the words of Hannah while the regular print share the thoughts and actions of Clay. This makes almost the entire book dialogue, and it works. And when things are getting too surreal because of a rumor causing too much pain or someone sexually assaults another, Clay pauses the tape and interacts with someone else for a moment so that he and the reader can take a break. Also, Hannah’s words give the true picture of how people really think and act through her moments of breaking events down. One example happens when Courtney Crimsen’s character makes her debut on the tapes. The reader sees first what Courtney wants everyone to see, nice and pretty to look at, and then the real version where she uses Hannah as a ride to a party and then spreads rumors implying Hannah owns sex toys. So, through the dialogue of Hannah, the hits just keep on coming until the end.

Despite suicide being the main focus of the story, not all is lost because Hannah and Clay have unexpected insights that allow the reader to see the light and gain hope by the end of the story. One moment happens when Clay runs into his eighth-grade crush while heading to a new location on the map. The girl hides behind baggy clothes and does not try to interact with others. Because of Clay’s enlightenment through the tapes, he starts to see that maybe something happened to her and he needs to stop and make a difference. Hannah, at the same time, constantly gives insights into everyone’s lives and how their actions impacted her. Towards the middle of the story, she suddenly goes off on how her first kiss became a rumor followed by her two first friends in the area ultimately causing her great pain. Then another person violated her privacy followed by a person committing sexual assault in a public place. It is at this point that she reflects on her lack of control over her life and begins to contemplate disappearing forever.

Response

Th1rteen R3asons Why shows the impact of cruelty towards others, and where suicide becomes a thought and then an action. Because I teach high school, my counselor hat often appears when students withdraw from others or act out of character. Some students just need attention and a reason to hope while others need immediate help from a certified counselor. Hannah’s character showed the signs of depression and cried out for help more than once. However, the follow through did not happen. In reality, these types of events happen every year in schools around the world. You have students that want to gain attention, so they spread rumors about others. This leads to others questioning what might be true about a person’s character. Jessica displays this fact when she references rumors when talking about what actually never happened between Hannah and a boy Jessica likes. However, one point of this book clashed with my views of the world in America. The counselor did not do his job and report Hannah to a crisis center and her parents despite the law requiring him to do this. The person working for a school must report this conversation due to the possibility of the individual causing harm to themselves or lose their credentials. Either the author did not know this factoid, or he wanted to show that not everyone does their job according to the law. To sum up, despite this one flaw, I would recommend this book for high school students because they need to understand that their actions and words matter. Also, no one knows all aspects of an individual’s life. They do not know what might or might not impact a person’s life to the point of no return.

Conclusion

Th1rteen R3asons Why is the ideal book for high school students. Some people are hurting and need to know they are not the only ones. Others need to have a reality check and learn what can happen if they take out their aggressions, insecurities, and bad days on others. And because of the unique way of incorporating the thoughts of a suicide victim along with the powerful insights, people can walk away from this book with hope for the future. I give this book three and a half stars out of four.

Citation

Asher, J. (2007). Th1rteen r3asons why. New York, NY: Razorbill.

Willis, C. (2019). Th1rteen r3asons why book cover (photo). Retrieved March 15, 2019 from https://drive.google.com/file/d/1awNKTvf133lfzM3uDZaFOLNyAdluF4Iy/view?usp=sharing