This afternoon my banned book book club discussed Thirteen Reasons Why written in 2007 by Jay Asher. In this story a 17 year old high school student named Hannah recorded a series of cassettes about thirteen people. After she died by suicide, the thirteen stories on cassettes were in a shoe box and sent to all thirteen people. Some people in our group think Hannah was a passive/aggressive whiny girl and I can see that. She chose to die by suicide and then makes sure all thirteen people feel guilty about it. The strongest evidence was her school counselor. Instead of her telling the story on tape, she records his voice as she explains what happens. The school counselor minimizes her concerns and doesn't do a single thing to help her. I was concerned that this book glorifies suicide. Several in the book club were teachers. Sometimes this book is taught in school. Certain scenes (bullying, rape) could be triggering for students in class especially as the details are discussed. I didn't enjoy reading this book. The format of the thirteen tapes was interesting. I also watched the film version on Netflix. The book and the film stay very close to the same. The book was inspired by a family member of the author who died by suicide.
