Thursday, June 4, 2009

Thirteen Reasons Why


Title: Thirteen Reasons Why

Author: Jay Asher

Type or emotional/crisis issue(s) addressed: Suicide, bullying, rape, peer pressure

Year of Publication: 2007

Publisher & Location: Penguin Group

ISBN#: 9781595141712

Target Age Level: Young Adult

# of Pages: 320

Quality of Illustrations: none

Brief Summary: Hannah Baker has just committed suicide. Clay Jensen receives a mysterious package that includes 13 cassette tapes. After locating a tape player, he begins to listen and discovers Hannah has made the tapes. Thirteen tapes for thirteen reasons why she chose to committee suicide. Clay is one of those reasons. This compelling novel illuminates some seemingly little events that frequently happen to teenagers that may have serious consequences. Personal Comments/Biases, and/or Things to Consider When Using This Book: sensitive subject matter

Post Reading Activities: Discuss social issues that teenagers deal with such as peer pressure, bullying, stereotyping, family conflict, friend conflict, substance abuse, rape and suicide. Discuss how different people deal with these social issues. Discuss positive strategies for dealing with these issues and how to help friends dealing with crisis such as rape, substance abuse, depression, mental illness, and suicide.

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