Review of "Thirteen Reasons Why"

"Thirteen Reasons Why"
Jay Asher

6

Pub. Date: October 18th, 2007
Pages: 288
Publisher: Razorbill

Synopsis:  Clay Jensen returns home from school to find a mysterious box with his name on it lying on his porch. Inside he discovers cassette tapes recorded by Hannah Baker–his classmate and crush–who committed suicide two weeks earlier.

On tape, Hannah explains that there are thirteen reasons why she decided to end her life. Clay is one of them. If he listens, he'll find out how he made the list.

Through Hannah and Clay's dual narratives, debut author Jay Asher weaves an intricate and heartrending story of confusion and desperation that will deeply affect teen readers.

Even though I have always heard fantastic things about this book, I never expected it to live up to the hype, but it definitely does.  "Thirteen Reasons Why" is a book that anyone would be able to appreciate, whether you are a teen, a parent, a male, or a female.  I listened to this book on audio and it was fantastic.  I left for work early just so I could sit in my car and listen to as many CDs as possible.  I rarely bring my clunky CD player to the gym, but I did with this book.  

The whole concept of a suicide box set of cassettes is pretty creepy, but the fact that Hannah sent them to 13 people brings it to a whole other level.  This book can be pretty haunting at times, but Jay Asher writes Hannah in a way that keeps the tone lighter than one would expect.  Even though I don't agree with Hannah's suicide, Asher constructed the story in a way that allows the reader to completely understand and can see why she killed herself.  I think many teens will relate to Hannah and see parts of themselves in her.  I know I had similar experiences with rumor mills and being put on a list that gave people a green light to say inappropriate comments.

Clay is technically the main character in this book, but I must stress that this is truly Hannah's story.  Clay does have a role to play and the reader learns the reasons for Hannah's suicide with Clay, but he doesn't detract from the story.  The fact that Clay cannot fathom why he is even on the tapes and thinks the whole thing is a mistake left me dying to know what he did wrong.  Everyone else was such a jerk, but Clay seems so nice... I just HAD to know his dirty little secret!  I wasn't sure how hearing Hannah's story with commentary from another character would work with the plot, but it just gives it so much depth.  You see that Hannah is not being paranoid about the rumors.  Clay believed them and even allowed them to rule over his actions.  You get the story from two different points of view delving deeper into Hannah's life and brining insight that Hannah herself couldn't provide.

This is a book about suicide, but it is also about friendship, first love, rumors, high school, and so much more.  I seriously think I could write a novel about how amazing "Thirteen Reasons Why" is and why everyone must read it, but I think I have gushed enough... but seriously this was definitely one of the best YA books I have ever read.

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Sherry Shahan On "Purple Daze" with Pictures!

Happy Release Day "Purple Daze"!  Sherry Shahan was nice enough to share about her inspiration for the book and sent me some pictures to post.  

"While cleaning out a closet I unearthed a shoe box jammed with letters from a friend who was a Marine in Vietnam. He was one of my girlfriend’s (Nancy in the novel) boyfriends. I became his most faithful pen pal, long after Nancy broke up with him. I had kept his letters more than 40 years. Rereading them is what inspired Purple Daze, originally called Love, Phil, which was how he signed them."

"Then I began playing around with viewpoints of other kids I'd known in high school. I wanted to be inside the heads of each character to explore their innermost thoughts and feelings, not just describe them from the outside looking in. I could have accomplished this with an omniscient viewpoint -- but bouncing in and out of some many minds could be confusing. Instead I chose journal entries, letters, free verse and traditional poetry. Verse mirrors the pulse of adolescent life. To me, condensed metaphoric language on a single page is a good reflection of their tightly-packed world."

Shahan was nice enough to send me some pictures to share with all of you.  I thought these were so cool and I am so glad she sent them!

Here is Sherry in High School

2- The man that inspired Mickey.

3- The inspiration for Phil with his machine gun.

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Review of "Purple Daze"

"Purple Daze"

Sherry Shahan

 

4

Pub. Date: March 22, 2011

Pages: 208

Publisher: Running Press Book Publishers

Synopsis: "Purple Daze" is a young adult novel set in suburban Los Angeles in 1965. Six high school students share their experiences and feelings in interconnected free verse and traditional poems about war, feminism, riots, love, racism, rock 'n' roll, high school, and friendship.

Although there have been verse novels published recently, none explore the changing and volatile 1960's in America-- a time when young people drove a cultural and political revolution. With themes like the costs and casualties of war, the consequences of sex, and the complex relationships between teens, their peers, and their parents, this story is still as relevant today as it was 45 years ago.

I am beyond happy that I received this book for review because I totally would have missed out on a great book!  This is the second book in the last few months I've read that has been a historical fiction written in verse and I love this trend.  "Purple Daze" is a fast read where historical facts don’t bog you down.  The flow of the writing combined with the unique character voices was hypnotic.  I breezed through this book in only a few hours.  I don't usually comment on covers, but this one is awesome.  It is just so vibrant; I think it will definitely draw in readers.

The voices of all the characters sucked me into the story; I didn't particularly like them all, but they were very amusing and realistic.  Mickey is a character I wasn't overly fond of, but he was the perfect character to give a compelling account of what it was like being a young man in the Navy.  I think my favorite character was Phil; his letters were the most powerful.  I also feared for his safety with the characters in the book.  Even though Ziggy is a morally shady character, I still felt for her and wanted her life to get better.

I also really enjoyed how the book had an open ended ending.  Some of the characters' personal issues were wrapped up, but the book could have gone on for longer.  I didn't feel unsatisfied, but I wonder if other people will be.  Fighting in a war halfway around the world that seems endless and civil rights issues are still things that are happening today.  The futures of these things have not been decided.  There will always be causes for future generations to protest and wars to fight.  Even though this book is about the past, there are a lot of issues addressed that teens can relate to.

I highly recommend "Purple Daze" to pretty much anyone looking for a good book, especially to readers who either want to read more about the 1960's or enjoy historical fiction.  This would also be a great book for readers who may not particularly like reading historical fiction, but who enjoys coming of age stories.  If you enjoyed "Three Rivers Rising" or "Out of the Dust" then you would probably enjoy "Purple Daze".

*As stated earlier, I did receive a copy of this book for review.
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Teaser Tuesdays March 15th 2011

 Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Any one can play along! Just do the following:

    * Grab your current read
    * Open to a random page
    * Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
    * BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
    * Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

"Purple Daze

by Sherry Shahan

"Some numb-nuts poured strawberry Jell-o in the toilet by the Girls’ Vice Principla’s office.  She called the West Valley Police Station.  What if someone had slit her wrist or had a miscarriage or something? (Page 13)

Teaser Tuesdays: March 8th 2011

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Any one can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

"Desires of the Dead"

by Kimberly Derting

"She thought about resisting the urge to follow the sound, just ignoring it, especially here... with Chelsea, who knew nothing about her friend's"gift."  Besides, what did she think she would do once she found the body that beckoned her?" (Page 23)

Kimberly Derting on "The Pledge"

Kimberly Derting has blogged about her next book "The Pledge" and it sounds really awesome!  Not what I expected but in a good way.  Check out her post here.

Teaser Tuesdays: March 1st 2011

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Any one can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

"Glimmerglass"

by Jenna Black

"'The internal combustion engine does not function in Faerie,' she explained.  'Those who have reason to travel between Avalon and Faerie perforce do so on horseback, so you'll see a great many more horses here than you might in most cities.'" (Page 21)