just really should learn to embrace the weirdness...so I'm going to!
Thirteen Reasons Why, by Jay Asher, is about a teenage girl who commits suicide. She leaves behind 13 cassette tapes for a list of people to understand why she committed suicide. As a health teacher who spent several days discussing the warning signs of suicide and how to help potential victims of suicide, I was very wary of this book. I don't like anything that glorifies suicide or makes it look like an satisfactory answer to the difficulties we all face in life (understandable, some more than others). Our major take home message in my class was that, "Suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem."
I was so happy (and quite relieved) that this book never glorified suicide. It depicted the very real consequences of teens' actions. Asher showed that it's never too late to fix a reputation, it's never too late to give someone a second chance, it DOES matter how you treat each and every person you come in contact with, and the choices you make do, indeed, have an impact on all those around you. Like I've mentioned before, I HATE when bad things happen to kids--whether it's real life, TV, or books--it's just too hard for me to take! I always personalize everything I read or hear, and I've loved too many young people in my life to just brush those things off. I never want to become desensitized to the horrible realities that are so casually depicted in our everyday media. However, I did appreciate Asher's way of shining light on many teenage cliches that, all too often, live up to their stereotypes. (I.e.: girl gets drunk and can't control, nor remember, what happens to her).
Lastly, I love when books are written in an interesting format. We were able to hear the tapes and then understand the main character, Clay's, reaction to the recordings. I love any kind of spin on a traditional narrative!
Overall, I really liked this book and would recommend it to anyone that is into teeny-bopper lit!
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