This book club began it's infancy on a crisp fall evening while working Literacy Night at Harrison Park School. We were tucked away in a cozy computer lab presenting Overdrive training to families when a groups of high school girls, all from Union High School meandered in. It was then that I discovered the book lover in all of their eyes and the glitter of hope to grasp a hold of this and run with it. So hence came the discussion of this title. Because one of the young ladies had read the book, the interest level the entire group was piqued! Needless to say, that is what has brought us to our first book club blog. Please stay tuned as we continue to read and build on our thoughts and feelings on Thirteen Reasons Why.
The first time I read this book was this past summer on vacation, tucked away on a quiet beach. I am a very passionate and avid reader but title selection for me is as important as having extra crunchy peanut butter on my sandwich. Yes, critical! Lucky for me however, Kalli in the GRPS Communications office has been reading from our Overdrive eBook library and suggested a great book, Thirteen Reasons Why, a novel by Jay Asher .
ReplyDeleteI was intrigued, so I made it first on my list of "Jan's Vacation Reads".
Hannah Baker commits suicide but before she does, she mails a box of seven cassette tapes out explaining her reasons why. The entire story is told in dual narratives between Hannah and Clay Jensen, the boy who had a crush on her and has received the box of tapes. Clay must listen to all of the tapes to find out how he made the list of thirteen.
The author weaves a complex and harrowing story that is filled with despair and melancholy. In the beginning and well into this book, I really felt the depth of her emotions, so raw and vivid. But as the story progressed, I began to think about the survivors, the thirteen peers that would listen to these tapes and know such intimate details about one another. They will know the wrongs the others had done as well as their own and how all of this lead up to the Hannah's eventual decision.
On the other hand, it also conveyed to me the power of our words and actions upon others.
We had 9 young ladies come to the book club yesterday and had a great discussion about the book. We talked about the characters and what would we do if the tapes came to us. It was interesting to hear what the ladies had to say about Hannah and their point of view of the whole situation. The book was so good I just couldn't put it down!
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