Age Level: Teen
Format: Book
Thirteen Reasons Why is the story of one night in Clay Jenson’s life. Clay is a normal high school student, a good student and all around nice guy. One day, when coming home from school, he sees a package addressed to him on the front porch of his house. When he opens the package, Clay finds seven cassette tapes with each side marked 1 – 13 in blue nail polish. When he pops the first tape in his father’s tape player, he hears the voice of Hannah Baker, a classmate of his who recently committed suicide. Clay is one of 13 people to receive the tapes, which tell her story and describe why she decided to commit suicide. He spends that night listening to Hannah’s voice, visiting the places she wants him to go to, and becoming more and more horrified with the picture her voice paints. He is also trying to figure out why he is one of the 13. He knows he never wronged Hannah.
I like to read realistic fiction, especially when it comes to teen literature, and there’s really nothing more realistic than this book. It gives a great depiction of the life of a teen who doesn’t fit in with the rest of her peers, as Hannah doesn’t. It shows how rumors and innuendos start and how they really ruin a person’s belief in themselves. Hannah was a normal girl, until one rumor started about her and then that rumor just continued to build into other rumors. It’s a very compelling story of how we treat other people and how that treatment can really spiral until finally ruining another person’s self esteem.
The basic format of the book is set up so the reader will be reading Hannah's voice which is shown in the book by being in italics and then Clay's thoughts and reactions to what was just said. It is a great format for this type of book as it helps you to get into the minds of both Clay and Hannah.
It’s a heartbreakingly real story that will change the way you look at how you treat other people. You won’t be able to put it down. I wasn’t.
Reviewed by Sara.
