Th1rteen R3asons Why

Th1rteen R3asons Why by Jay Asher is a heartrending and though-provoking look at how people treat each other and the butterfly affects of actions/comments.

Clay Jensen has just received a package in the mail. He has no idea what it contains or who sent it. But when he opens it, he finds a pile of cassette tapes. The tapes were recorded by a classmate, Hannah Baker, who killed herself two weeks earlier.

The tapes are being sent to thirteen people at school who Hannah feels contributed to her decision to commit suicide. Clay cannot think of anything he might have done to hurt Hannah. He has had a crush on her for a long time and they worked together, but they didn't really know each other.

Clay starts the tapes in his garage on his dad's old stereo, but after his mother walks in he feels he needs a more private way to listen. As he walks around town with an old Walkman, Clay becomes more angry, confused and worried about his part and about how others treated Hannah.

Told in two simultaneous narratives, the tapes and Clay's reactions, Thirteen Reasons Why is a powerful novel in a similar way as Speak or Twisted by Laurie Halse Anderson or So Much to Tell You by John Marsden. A great book that is somewhat painful to read.

Asher, Jay. (2007). Th1rteen R3asons Why. New York: Razorbill.