Thirteen Reasons Why

Finally starting to get into the “reading zone” again.  The upcoming weeks are filled with my last few weeks of professional commitments with the associations, which means… reading time!  Today I began and finished Thirteen Reasons Why, a NY Times bestseller, by Jay Asher.  I love the writing technique and story flow.  Brilliant.  It is a teen story about a high school female who takes her life, but before she does, she tapes the story leading to her tragic decision and the thirteen people who were apart of her life’s struggle, and then sends it to them after her death.  Wow…  Imagine Clay Jenson’s surprise when he opens a box that is unlabeled and finds “old school” cassette tapes with no message.  This is followed by a tragic car accident a week previous to the mysterious tapes.  Enter the strange world of a young fellow high school peer who has just committed suicide and when he hits “play” he hears her story.  But wait, he is instructed to send the tapes when done to the next person on the list, another classmate.  Clay learns “blow by blow” Hannah Baker’s lonely life and the bullying and made up stories that led to her taking her life.  The thirteen people will forever by bound by the tapes (and each other) when they learn more about how things happened, including other tragedies that occurred along the way.  Through Clay’s revelation of love for the deceased without ever getting to do so, you have a gripping story.  Asher, writing his first teen novel, does an outstanding job of weaving the lives of the thirteen students together with intrigue and drama.  This is a great book club read, and reflection for high schoolers who face peer pressure every day.  I thoroughly enjoyed this one-day book read.