13 Reasons Why
Suicide is a tough subject no matter what the age group that's it's targeted towards. I think 13 Reasons Why is an effective look at the effect that suicide can have on your peers. Personally, I have trouble connecting with this book because I feel that Clay and Hannah are not reliable narrators and often have conflicting interests. The most important part of this novel is explaining how the events slowly lead Hannah to her final decision and how much social image can have an impact on an adolescent. I think that this would be a difficult book to teach because there isn't an age that suddenly makes this book less shocking and horrific making it difficult recommend to a teenager.
Suicide is a difficult subject to teach because most adolescent novels contain the idea of dealing with death and how to come to terms with it. I think the part where Clay listens to the final tape leaves a lasting impact on the reader simply to the raw emotion that comes through the page. This scene shows how hard it can be to deal with something traumatic like the death of a classmate. I like that Asher broke the narrative into two different perspectives and differentiated both narrators by having the tapes exist in Italics. But what bothers me is how Clay often appears to be arguing with what Hannah is saying on the tapes. Also, that he lied to his mom and never went home that night. Another issue I have is that; while it is an interesting literary concept for a victims suicide note be made into audio tapes before their death, but with the tapes being sent to certain individuals makes it feel like more of an act of revenge which could give the wrong idea to someone who is potentially suicidal.
I think that the part of the story that Hannah tells is much more compelling than having Clay as the narrator. The tapes show how much impact something like guilt and rumors can have on a person. Overall, I feel that it is very realistic how the events described on the tapes "snowball" and lead Hannah to a state of depression. I think that someone of the "reasons" that Hannah gives have less weight than others, such as rumors being spread around school about her, but I think that Asher included them because It shows how much of an impact that something someone says can effect another person. I think that the experiences that Hannah shares on the tapes are all examples of real issues that many adolescents face. I think that the tapes serve as a sort of warning to many of the readers that their actions have consequences that could potentially be irreversible.
I think that this book would be difficult to teach in a high school setting due to the heavy subject matter. With the novel including rape, suicide, drug abuse, and death, I don't think I would be able to teach this even within a senior class. The Netflix series has done a lot to give this book some well deserved notoriety. Even though I have several issues with the book, I think that how Asher tells the story with two narrators is a very unique and interesting way to handle the difficult subjects in this book. I think I would recommend the book over the Netflix series to many young adults but I think I wouldn't be comfortable with teaching this novel in the classroom.
Suicide is a difficult subject to teach because most adolescent novels contain the idea of dealing with death and how to come to terms with it. I think the part where Clay listens to the final tape leaves a lasting impact on the reader simply to the raw emotion that comes through the page. This scene shows how hard it can be to deal with something traumatic like the death of a classmate. I like that Asher broke the narrative into two different perspectives and differentiated both narrators by having the tapes exist in Italics. But what bothers me is how Clay often appears to be arguing with what Hannah is saying on the tapes. Also, that he lied to his mom and never went home that night. Another issue I have is that; while it is an interesting literary concept for a victims suicide note be made into audio tapes before their death, but with the tapes being sent to certain individuals makes it feel like more of an act of revenge which could give the wrong idea to someone who is potentially suicidal.
I think that the part of the story that Hannah tells is much more compelling than having Clay as the narrator. The tapes show how much impact something like guilt and rumors can have on a person. Overall, I feel that it is very realistic how the events described on the tapes "snowball" and lead Hannah to a state of depression. I think that someone of the "reasons" that Hannah gives have less weight than others, such as rumors being spread around school about her, but I think that Asher included them because It shows how much of an impact that something someone says can effect another person. I think that the experiences that Hannah shares on the tapes are all examples of real issues that many adolescents face. I think that the tapes serve as a sort of warning to many of the readers that their actions have consequences that could potentially be irreversible.
I think that this book would be difficult to teach in a high school setting due to the heavy subject matter. With the novel including rape, suicide, drug abuse, and death, I don't think I would be able to teach this even within a senior class. The Netflix series has done a lot to give this book some well deserved notoriety. Even though I have several issues with the book, I think that how Asher tells the story with two narrators is a very unique and interesting way to handle the difficult subjects in this book. I think I would recommend the book over the Netflix series to many young adults but I think I wouldn't be comfortable with teaching this novel in the classroom.
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