Th1rteen R3asons Why by Jay Asher

Synopsis:
Clay Jensen returns home from school to find a mysterious box with his name on it lying on his porch.

Inside he discovers cassette tapes recorded by Hannah Baker--his classmate and crush--who committed suicide two weeks earlier.

On tape, Hannah explains that there are thirteen reasons why she decided to end her life.

Clay is one of the reasons why.

If he listens, he'll find out how he made the list.

Through Hannah and Clay's dual narratives, debut author Jay Asher weaves an intricate and heartrending story of confusion and desperation that will deeply affect teen readers.

My Review:
I happen to own this book but I decided to listen to it on audio CD instead. I don’t think either one would be a bad choice but I do think the audio CD was better because it was in the format that the book was told from and it made the story more real for me. The actual book jacket had the map that Hannah Baker gave to each person of the places that were significant to the story. It also offered an interview with the author at the end which I found really interesting.

At the risk of sounding morbid I have to say I loved everything about this book even though it was about a girl who committed suicide and it was very haunting. The pacing was really well done and I thought the format and layout of Hannah’s story on cassette tape was unique because it was like a eulogy of Hannah’s last days. This book brings to light the circumstances that could lead a person to consider going down that path and how everything and everyone is connected. While no one can make someone take their own life, they can have an impact on the decision.

I am currently taking a Crisis Intervention class for my masters in social work so this story was very appropriate for my current studies even though my choosing to read this book at the same time was unplanned. Although I have never known anyone personally who committed suicide, this is a topic that has current relevance with numbers of people taking their lives growing with each year. This is not just something teenagers go through and in fact the largest numbers of suicides are committed by the elderly which is also something I have been learning about in my Gerontology class. Like any death, it not only affects the person who takes their life but everyone else around them and especially this way because when you are sick or dying death is not out of the realm of possibility. Suicide is even more heartbreaking because we wonder if and what we could have done to keep the person from killing themselves. We wonder if we could have done anything or paid more attention and the guilt starts to eat away at us. The best we can do is bring awareness to others about this issue and offer help to anyone considering such an act.