100 YA Novels: 13 Reasons Why
Book 7
Warning: This book deals with suicide and other possibly triggering issues.
Clay was excited when he discovered a mysterious package on his front step as he arrived home from school. There was no return address, no note, just seven cassette tapes with the numbers one through thirteen scribbled on the sides.
After tracking down a cassette player to play the tapes, he was shocked to hear the voice of his former crush, Hannah Baker, come through the speakers. Hannah had recently committed suicide. On the tapes, she issued her final demand. There were thirteen people, in some way, involved in her death. Their penance was that they would have to listen to the tapes and hear every excruciating detail of their role in Hannah's death. Then they needed to pass the tapes to the next person on her list. If they didn't pass them on, a second set of tapes would be made public, exposing everyone to their misdeeds. Since Clay was one of the recipients, he knew his name was going to appear somewhere on the tapes and both he and the reader spend the story on edge waiting to hear the part he played.
This was a difficult book to read, mainly because you know Hannah's fate from the start. In the beginning, everything we know about Hannah comes from Clay's perspective. We know she was his classmate, that he liked her, and that she killed herself. As Clay listens to the tapes, and reacts to them, we get to know-in her own words- more about who she is. It's difficult to hear how completely her life fell apart.
Hannah isn't a perfect person. I'll admit that there are a few moments in the book where I really didn't like what she was doing. I'm not sure that every person she singles out deserved the amount of guilt she was laying on them. I understand completely how the little things can add up and lead to bigger issues, and they shouldn't get a pass for hurting her. But when you weigh the infractions of some against the others, you wonder why she's treating them as though they're all the same. In her quest for revenge, she completely ignores that she might be guilty of doing the same thing she accused them of doing to her. The message of this story is clear. You never know what burdens other people are carrying with them, so we should be careful not to add any more. Maybe the impact of the tapes are the tipping point for someone else. However, Hannah was in crisis, so it's difficult to judge her actions rationally.
As a warning, this is a tough story to read at times. It deals with a lot of heavy issues: suicide, sexual assault, and bullying, which might be triggering for some people. Ultimately, I think the novel is important for people of all ages to read. We don't always understand the impact our words and actions have on other people and we really ought to. A little kindness goes a long way and doesn't cost much.
Warning: This book deals with suicide and other possibly triggering issues.
Clay was excited when he discovered a mysterious package on his front step as he arrived home from school. There was no return address, no note, just seven cassette tapes with the numbers one through thirteen scribbled on the sides.
After tracking down a cassette player to play the tapes, he was shocked to hear the voice of his former crush, Hannah Baker, come through the speakers. Hannah had recently committed suicide. On the tapes, she issued her final demand. There were thirteen people, in some way, involved in her death. Their penance was that they would have to listen to the tapes and hear every excruciating detail of their role in Hannah's death. Then they needed to pass the tapes to the next person on her list. If they didn't pass them on, a second set of tapes would be made public, exposing everyone to their misdeeds. Since Clay was one of the recipients, he knew his name was going to appear somewhere on the tapes and both he and the reader spend the story on edge waiting to hear the part he played.
This was a difficult book to read, mainly because you know Hannah's fate from the start. In the beginning, everything we know about Hannah comes from Clay's perspective. We know she was his classmate, that he liked her, and that she killed herself. As Clay listens to the tapes, and reacts to them, we get to know-in her own words- more about who she is. It's difficult to hear how completely her life fell apart.
Hannah isn't a perfect person. I'll admit that there are a few moments in the book where I really didn't like what she was doing. I'm not sure that every person she singles out deserved the amount of guilt she was laying on them. I understand completely how the little things can add up and lead to bigger issues, and they shouldn't get a pass for hurting her. But when you weigh the infractions of some against the others, you wonder why she's treating them as though they're all the same. In her quest for revenge, she completely ignores that she might be guilty of doing the same thing she accused them of doing to her. The message of this story is clear. You never know what burdens other people are carrying with them, so we should be careful not to add any more. Maybe the impact of the tapes are the tipping point for someone else. However, Hannah was in crisis, so it's difficult to judge her actions rationally.
As a warning, this is a tough story to read at times. It deals with a lot of heavy issues: suicide, sexual assault, and bullying, which might be triggering for some people. Ultimately, I think the novel is important for people of all ages to read. We don't always understand the impact our words and actions have on other people and we really ought to. A little kindness goes a long way and doesn't cost much.