Product Description

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 them. 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.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1992 in Books
• Published on: 2007-10-18
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 304 pages

From Booklist
When Clay Jenson plays the casette tapes he received in a mysterious package, he's surprised to hear the voice of dead classmate Hannah Baker. He's one of 13 people who receive Hannah's story, which details the circumstances that led to her suicide. Clay spends the rest of the day and long into the night listening to Hannah's voice and going to the locations she wants him to visit. The text alternates, sometimes quickly, between Hannah's voice (italicized) and Clay's thoughts as he listens to her words, which illuminate betrayals and secrets that demonstrate the consequences of even small actions. Hannah, herself, is not free from guilt, her own inaction having played a part in an accidental auto death and a rape. The message about how we treat one another, although sometimes heavy, makes for compelling reading. Give this to fans of Gail Giles psychological thrillers. Dobrez, Cindy

Review
...compelling reading. -- Booklist

A brilliant and mesmerizing debut from a gifted new author. -- Kirkus, starred review

Review
“A brilliant and mesmerizing debut from a talented new author.” -Kirkus Reviews, starred review

"Breakneck pace and dizzying emotion." -School Library Journal

Customer Reviews

Asher shows promise!
Hannah is dead at the tender age of 16. Tragically, she took her own life. But she's left something behind: a box of thirteen audio tapes that she hopes will explain the reasons she chose to kill herself.

Thirteen Reasons Why is Jay Asher's debut novel that deals with some powerful subject matter: teen suicide. I was prepared for preachy. I was prepared for condescension. But I wasn't prepared for what I actually read, which turned out to be a brutally honest exploration of both the victim and those left behind (he invalidates neither) wondering why and how such a thing could have happened.

Author Jay Asher has a rare, special touch with his readers. He actually understands that most mysterious and elusive of creatures: the teenager. Hannah's reasons for killing herself would appear, to most adults, inconsequential. But Asher understands that her reasons are very, very real to a teenager and he treats them with the seriousness they deserve. Likewise, he is able to convey the angst of her classmates who are left feeling confused, guilty and vulnerable while they try to make sense of the tragedy.

And yet Asher is still able to subtly provide answers and lessons, including our moral responsibilities to our fellow human beings, the subtle signs of suicide and how we unknowingly exacerbate it.

Perhaps the most powerful scene in the novel revolves around Hannah's last effort to reach out for help from her high school guidance counselor. Asher brilliantly depicts a counselor who wants so badly to help Hannah, but simply cannot because of his inability to see the problem through the eyes of a teenage girl.

There is, as it turns out, no one person to blame for a tragedy like this. Anyone could have stopped it along the way, but tragically no one did.

Very highly recommended for both teens and adults. If you have a teen in mind for this book, I would recommend that you (or better yet, their parents) read it first to ensure that the seriousness of the subject matter is, in your view, appropriate for them.

.....meh
Please read Jeffrey Eugenides' The Virgin Suicides instead of this selection. It is far superior and a far more realistic look into how we really don't know what' going on in other people's lives.

13 Reasons Why's formula gets old really quickly. I also didn't care about any of the characters by the end of the book, so I never really got to feel the full impact of the emotions that Asher tried to convey.

Honestly, read The Virgin Suicides instead.

Excellent Read
I finished reading this book in one morning. It has been a long time since I was so into a book that I couldn't put it down. This book explains the 13 reasons why this teenage girl committed suicide. It could be any teen's story. I agree with other reviews that it should be required reading in high schools. Any parent, grandparent, teen, teacher - basically ANYONE can learn a lot about the whys of suicide by reading this book. To realize the subtle things that can happen to a person that snowball into one major motivation for suicide is really disturbing. To realize how fragile a person can be. The story is told in a compelling, interesting, totally realistic way. Definitely worth the purchase price!