An Eye for Thirteen Reasons Why

Thirteen Reasons Why

Thirteen Reasons Why

Casey DeCaro, Staff Writer

Once in a while, a book is published that is potentially life-changing. Whether it inspires readers to better themselves or go out and achieve their goals, or even help out someone else, a book can affect someone’s personality. One book, written for teenagers, that has been noted to change the way people think of others, is Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher.

Thirteen Reasons Why is a novel told from the perspective of Clay Jensen, a teenager whose classmate and crush, Hannah Baker, had committed suicide two weeks before the story begins. It starts as Clay arrives home to find a box filled with cassette tapes recorded by Hannah prior to her death. There are thirteen tapes, each one describing a reason why she ended her own life, and Clay realizes that he is on the list. He is unsure why, considering he does not recall ever being rude or hurting her, so he listens to each tape to find out. She notes that the tapes must be passed along to each person on the list in the order in which they appear. As the story progresses, more and more connections can be made about her death. 

As the reader works deeper into the story, they can realize how little things can affect others in such small ways. Small positive gestures can turn someone’s day around, or minuscule negative gestures can ruin it. Reading this novel has allowed many teenagers to realize the effect they have on others. This novel can change the way a person thinks about their interactions and encounters with others, and might even encourage them to go out of their way to be a little nicer. A life-changing novel does not appear very often, so if you haven’t already read Jay Asher’s Thirteen Reasons Why, then pick up a copy from the library and give it a try!