Reading Teen

It's hard to know what to expect when you decide to read a book about teenage suicide. This is especially true when you have lived through raising teenagers and are the grandmother of one currently. Will the book be sympathetic to the dead teen's reasoning? Will it show the heartbreaking tragedy of a life lost too early? Will it explain that there were other options, other answers to the problems being dealt with? My answer to all of these when considering "Thirteen Reasons Why" is Yes. Clay Jensen, a high school junior, receives a package of 7 audio cassettes from an anonymous sender. Each cassette is labeled with a number on each side except for the final side. When Clay puts the first tape in the player he is shocked and stunned to hear the voice of Hannah Baker, a classmate and possible love interest, who committed suicide 2 weeks earlier. There are thirteen sides to the tapes, thirteen people who were directly involved with Hannah's decision to end her life and Clay spends the rest of the night listening, walking through town in Hannah's footsteps, reflecting on people and events and wondering why his name was on her list. The book is separated into Hannah's words on the tapes and Clay's thoughts and actions regarding them. As Hannah relates certain events in her life, Clay recalls his perspective of these same events and tries to understand how they all fit together to compel Hannah to make that final decision to end her life. By listening to Hannah's story as it relates to each of these thirteen people, it is possible to see how one event, the false rumors of sexual activity, triggered another event, and so on until her life seemed trapped in hopeless negativity. As Clay listens to the tapes, he feels frustrated that he did not see the signs of Hannah's despondency and react in a way that would change her depression. He is also frustrated by the fact that he was attracted to Hannah but allowed the rumors and opinions of others to hold him back from reaching out to her sooner. There are people who could have been encouraging and supportive of Hannah but she either failed to accept their help or refused to ask. By the end of Hannah's tapes, she has decided that there is no hope for her and even does things that verify this. She approaches her guidance counselor and talks to him about needing things to stop...like her life. But because he doesn't say the "right" words or ask the "right" questions she walks away from him. This book was hard to put down once I started it. I wanted to know who was next on the tapes and how they had affected Hannah's life. I wanted to know why Clay's name was on the list. And, I wanted to know why Hannah decided to kill herself. The answer to that question is very unsatisfactory because for those left behind it seems that there is always another answer. What is ultimately more important is what Clay learns about himself and his relationships and responsibilities to other people in his life. I liked this book very much and would read it again. ~Janeth http://ReadingTeen.net/