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rmmcdowell 's review for:
Thirteen Reasons Why
by Jay Asher
Thirteen Reasons Why is an interesting concept for a book, and Asher did a unique job mixing Hannah's voice with the narrator's voice. I found it engaging and could barely put it down, wondering what the next tape would reveal. I have no experience with teen suicide but, like most significant (and permanent) choices, I would assume there are far more than 13 reasons why . . . Hannah eludes to that.
Despite the sexually-graphic content of one of the final tapes, I will buy this book and encourage my children and their friends to read it. I learned about this book after reading an article in Entertainment Weekly talked about how this book is saving lives and bringing healing to parents whose children have taken their own lives. It would be worth it for that alone, but I think it's also valid for anyone who engages with other people at any point in their lives. People have the tendency to be cruel and joke at others' expenses. Perhaps a book like this could bring some of that to an end. As Hannah is revealing some of the cruelty she has endured, Clay (the narrator) interrupts to say, "He didn't know. If he'd known what you were thinking, he certainly wouldn't have done it." And I think that's the point. On its own, a joke or a prank can be insignificant. None of Hannah's reasons on their own would have been enough, but together . . . it all adds up. If I can teach my children only one lesson, it will be this: be kind to other people, because you have no idea what private battles they are fighting.
Despite the sexually-graphic content of one of the final tapes, I will buy this book and encourage my children and their friends to read it. I learned about this book after reading an article in Entertainment Weekly talked about how this book is saving lives and bringing healing to parents whose children have taken their own lives. It would be worth it for that alone, but I think it's also valid for anyone who engages with other people at any point in their lives. People have the tendency to be cruel and joke at others' expenses. Perhaps a book like this could bring some of that to an end. As Hannah is revealing some of the cruelty she has endured, Clay (the narrator) interrupts to say, "He didn't know. If he'd known what you were thinking, he certainly wouldn't have done it." And I think that's the point. On its own, a joke or a prank can be insignificant. None of Hannah's reasons on their own would have been enough, but together . . . it all adds up. If I can teach my children only one lesson, it will be this: be kind to other people, because you have no idea what private battles they are fighting.