a novel by Jay Asher
Published by the Penguin Group
ISBN 978-1-59514-171-2
pp.288
In high school I was trained to answer a suicide hotline - to this day, I can remember how nervous I was that the phone would actually ring.
Could I really help someone overcome the desire to end their life? Could I really reel someone in from the abyss of confusion, of hopelessness, of despair? The question still lingers - could I really help?
13 Reasons Why is a heartwrenching 268 page suicide note. Instead of leaving her last thoughts down on paper, the main character Hannah records her last thoughts and her13 reasons why she decides to take her life on cassette tapes for a specific list of people to listen to - whether they want to or not. From beyond the grave, she guilts her listeners into hearing their impact, their domino-like effect why a young, beautiful, full of life high schoolers would choose to end it all.
From the very first page to the very last, the reader is compelled to keep "listening" along with Clay Johnson, one of the members of the "list"to find out how they fit into Hannah's puzzle of self-destruction. With the weight of knowing that Hannah already has commited suicide, each listener must agonize through Hannah's eyes the responsibility that they had in her death. What DID they do? What DIDN'T they do? Could they have been the ONE person that could of stood between Hannah and death?
Each side of a cassette tape is dedicated to a single person on Hannah's list - they need to know what they did.... Did they not listen to her? Did they start rumors about her? Did they turn their back on her? Did they let other's bully or sexually harass Hannah? Did they provide the last drip of deceit and pain that tipped Hannah's life vessel over to never be refilled again? Did they "kill" Hannah?
This book is a hard one to put down, even though the reader knows Hannah's fate from the very beginning, it is very hard not to hold on to some hope that there is a way to turn back time, to undo the hurtful deeds that led to Hannah's death. Many times throughout this story I found myself hoping that the next tape would actually reveal that Hannah was alive, recovering somewhere, that her attempt at suicide had failed.
The references of bullying, sexual harassment, gossip, fake friends, rumors, love lost, feeling alone and hopeless are unfortunately very personal for many young adults...hopefully this book may also provide a turning point for some readers...to act, to not look away, to stop before saying or doing such hurtful acts to others no matter how trivial they may seem, and in turn maybe be the one to save someone else...
Due to some of the sexual content of this book, I would recommend it for 14 and up, but the subject matter of suicide is something that needs to be discussed at an early age. According to the Centers for Disease Control...
" One of the leading causes of death amongst teenagers is suicide... it is the third leading cause of death, behind accidents and homicide, of people aged 15 to 24. Even more disturbing is the fact that suicide is the fourth leading cause of death for children between the ages of 10 and 14."
Here are some resources for that discussion.
If suicide even remotely comes to mind:
Please reach out and talk to someone at 1-800-SUICIDE
RESOURCES for TEACHERS, PARENTS, KIDS along with CRITICAL WARNING SIGNS CLICK HERE!
Other books young adult readers may compelled by this book:
A story of taking two friends taking their "list" of people that they hate and doing something about it:
see a review here.
see a youtube trailer of the books storyline here.
A classic and tragic story of depression and the toll it takes:
The Bell Jar by Sylvia PlathSee a synopsis at the following link.
http://depression.about.com/cs/truestories/fr/thebelljar.htm
No comments:
Post a Comment