Reading the South: 1

Thirteen Reasons Why .
by Jay Asher.
New York: Razor Bill, 2007.

288 pages.
$16.99 cloth.

Jay Asher is 33, an avid blogger, and a fan of young adult literature. Thirteen Reasons Why is his first novel, but he has written picture books and worked at three bookstores and two libraries so he can safely say he knows something about the biz. When asked why he prefers to write for teenagers, Asher says that “too much time writing books for adults has a horrible, long lasting, effect on authors—it makes them dull! . . . Also, teenage characters offer amazing benefits to writers. Every experience at that age is much more intense than at any other point in life. Why? Two reasons: (1) for the first time in our lives, we’re viewed as ultimately responsible for our actions (which means we’re also responsible for the consequences), (2) raging hormones. Combine both of those elements and the story writes itself . . . almost.”

Within the first few pages of Thirteen Reasons Why, high school junior Clay Jensen finds a ratty cardboard box on his doorstep full of audio tapes from Hannah Baker, a classmate who has recently killed herself. “Hello boys and girls. Hannah Baker here. Live and in stereo. . . . I’m about to tell you the story of my life. More specifically, why my life ended. And if you're listening to these tapes, you’re one of the reasons why.” The novel is told in 13 chapters and each chapter deals with an event during Hannah’s teenage years, since she moved to the small town she and Clay and the other 12 “reasons” have shared since middle school. The stories range from innocent first kisses on the playground to queen-bee bullying and backstabbing best friends. Among the more serious episodes are date rape and the consequences of drunk driving. Asher walks a fine line here. Today’s (and yesterday’s) teenagers are inundated with high school drama and adolescent
angst, but there is nothing cliché or after-school-special about this book. Yes, we have seen teen suicide before. We’ve seen sex crimes and mean girls and testosterone-fueled slugouts. But what we haven’t seen is a cardboard box full of audio tapes and the voice of a dead girl. A dead girl determined to point fingers.

“I’m not saying which tape brings you into the story,” Hannah tells her listeners. “But fear not, if you received this lovely little box, your name will pop up.” Along with Clay, the reader wonders how he will ultimately fit into Hannah’s story. He wracks his mind to think of a time he hurt his friend, but all he can manage to come up with is that he might have actually loved her. Little by little he unearths these feelings and comes to terms with the fact that he’ll never have the chance to save her. Clay walks through his neighborhood, passing the scenes of the crimes committed against Hannah Baker and even those crimes she herself committed. In the end, when his story is finally told, he’s possibly even more confused than before. Troubled by what he has heard, Clay ultimately makes a decision to help another girl--one who is, for now, very much alive, but has, until the night of the tapes, remained only in the periphery of his daily life.

Nearly every young person who reads this book will be connected to a suicide. It’s inevitable. A friend of a friend. A cousin. A boy on the baseball team. A girl in another town. A classmate. The sadness and anger and pain lingers a long time, all the way to adulthood. Jay Asher has taken that lingering emotion and written it down for a new generation. Asher has said in interviews that he got the idea from walking through a museum, listening to the cassette-tape woman’s voice through earphones. A voice with no body. It’s my hope that the readers of Thirteen Reasons Why will take what they read in these episodes of one girl’s life and put them to good use. Like Clay, I hope they will start to pay attention.

SALLY LYON


			Thirteen Reasons Why . by Jay Asher. New York: Razor Bill, 2007. 288 pages. $16.99 cloth. Jay Asher is 33, an avid blogger, and a fan of young adult literature. Thirteen Reasons Why is his first novel, but he has written picture books and worked at three bookstores and two libraries so he can safely say he knows something about the biz. When asked why he prefers to write for teenagers, Asher says that “too much time writing books for adults has a horrible, long lasting, effect on authors—it makes them dull! . . . Also, teenage characters offer amazing benefits to writers. Every experience at that age is much more intense than at any other point in life. Why? Two reasons: (1) for the first time in our lives, we’re viewed as ultimately responsible for our actions (which means we’re also responsible for the consequences), (2) raging hormones. Combine both of those elements and the story writes itself . . . almost.” Within the first few pages of Thirteen Reasons Why, high school junior Clay Jensen finds a ratty cardboard box on his doorstep full of audio tapes from Hannah Baker, a classmate who has recently killed herself. “Hello boys and girls. Hannah Baker here. Live and in stereo. . . . I’m about to tell you the story of my life. More specifically, why my life ended. And if you're listening to these tapes, you’re one of the reasons why.” The novel is told in 13 chapters and each chapter deals with an event during Hannah’s teenage years, since she moved to the small town she and Clay and the other 12 “reasons” have shared since middle school. The stories range from innocent first kisses on the playground to queen-bee bullying and backstabbing best friends. Among the more serious episodes are date rape and the consequences of drunk driving. Asher walks a fine line here. Today’s (and yesterday’s) teenagers are inundated with high school drama and adolescent angst, but there is nothing cliché or after-school-special about this book. Yes, we have seen teen suicide before. We’ve seen sex crimes and mean girls and testosterone-fueled slugouts. But what we haven’t seen is a cardboard box full of audio tapes and the voice of a dead girl. A dead girl determined to point fingers. “I’m not saying which tape brings you into the story,” Hannah tells her listeners. “But fear not, if you received this lovely little box, your name will pop up.” Along with Clay, the reader wonders how he will ultimately fit into Hannah’s story. He wracks his mind to think of a time he hurt his friend, but all he can manage to come up with is that he might have actually loved her. Little by little he unearths these feelings and comes to terms with the fact that he’ll never have the chance to save her. Clay walks through his neighborhood, passing the scenes of the crimes committed against Hannah Baker and even those crimes she herself committed. In the end, when his story is finally told, he’s possibly even more confused than before. Troubled by what he has heard, Clay ultimately makes a decision to help another girl--one who is, for now, very much alive, but has, until the night of the tapes, remained only in the periphery of his daily life. Nearly every young person who reads this book will be connected to a suicide. It’s inevitable. A friend of a friend. A cousin. A boy on the baseball team. A girl in another town. A classmate. The sadness and anger and pain lingers a long time, all the way to adulthood. Jay Asher has taken that lingering emotion and written it down for a new generation. Asher has said in interviews that he got the idea from walking through a museum, listening to the cassette-tape woman’s voice through earphones. A voice with no body. It’s my hope that the readers of Thirteen Reasons Why will take what they read in these episodes of one girl’s life and put them to good use. Like Clay, I hope they will start to pay attention. SALLY LYON