Th1rteen R3asons Why: Jay Asher

Title: Th1rteen R3asons Why Author: Jay Asher
Publisher: Razorbill


Media Format: Book
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Selection Source: Cindy Stafford--Librarian at South Miami High School
Recommended Audience: All teens
Reading Recommendation: 5 *****
Curriculum Connections: Sociology


Review
When I told Cindy Stafford, Librarian at South Miami High School, that I was looking for some good YA books to read for a young adults materials class, she took me directly to Th1rteen R3asons Why. She gave it a glowing recommendation, and said that it got teens talking in their book discussion group like no book before or since. I couldn't pass up a recommendation like that, so I checked it out to find out why it did such a good job of stimulating discussion amongst teens.


Clay Jensen received a box of cassette tapes, and after listening to the contents within them, he'll never be the same. He had a crush on a girl named Hannah, and he had reasons to believe that she shared those feelings, until her sudden suicide a couple of weeks before. Within those tapes are the thirteen reasons why Hannah killed herself, and by possessing those tapes, Clay knows he is one of those reasons. He is afraid to hear how he may have contributed to the death of a girl he could have loved, but he's compelled to listen. He finds out how seemingly inconsequential and unrelated events add up to an unbearable burden for Hannah.


Evaluation
Th1rteen R3asons Why does something that is very important for YA books. It grabs readers' attention immediately, and stimulates their curiosity. Also it does a great job of synchronizing readers' minds with that of the protagonist. Even though this book fits the realistic fiction genre, early on it introduces an element of mystery that prods readers to move insatiably forward. Readers cannot help but share Clay's obsession with the contents of those tapes. As the relationship between Clay and Hannah becomes clearer, it only increases the mystery of the role Clay could have played in the girl's death. Along with the mystery, there are lessons to be learned in this book about unintended consequences, and the power we have to affect others through our interpersonal relations.