I want to talk about this story in depth; since it's structured as a mystery, that means I have to give a few things away. So: Spoiler Alert!
The story is structured as a dual narrative: Hannah is telling her story via the tapes, and Clay must find a way to deal with his guilt as a party to Hannah's suicide -- because, in recording the tapes, Hannah has named Clay as one of the 13 reasons why she decided to end her life.
Hannah's story begins simply: she is a freshman girl who wants nothing more than her first kiss. But that kiss gets twisted. Suddenly, to her classmates, Hannah went from a first kiss to the girl who got felt up in the park, a rumor started by the boy she kissed. That reputation is compounded by being voted "Best Ass in the Freshman Class," a title she didn't want with a reputation to match. As events unfold, her reputation as a slut compounds, affecting how others treat her and (soon enough) how she thinks about herself.
And as she starts to sink into a depression, the reasons why start to mount. A very private poem is stolen and published, only to be anonymously ripped apart by every English class in the school. A former friend steals notes of encouragement from her bag in class. As the story goes on, the growth of Hannah's despair becomes more and more evident -- at first, her reasons are specific to her; as she gets closer to her decision, the incidents she records as partly to blame are more about losing faith in humanity. Nobody did anything to her when she and former friend accidentally permit a girl to be raped at a party, but the lack of responsibility that both show sends her deeper into the spiral. On the way home from that party, the tipsy driver she's riding with knocks down a stop sign -- a small action with largely implications, as an accident at that intersection later that night results in someone's death, but does nothing directly to her. Despite these actions being somewhat impersonal, her connection to them shows a teen in tune with the world around her. They come at a time when Hannah needs hope, needs something positive to show her life is worth it, but nothing is forthcoming.
I won't give away all the reasons Hannah cites, especially not the last two. Her final destruction is best left to the novel. But Clay (the main character, remember?) struggles with every aspect of Hannah's story. In the book, he crushed on Hannah for about a year before she died, but never got close to her; he has a reputation for being a truly nice guy, a reputation that holds true, while Hannah's reputation is one of promiscuity, despite the tapes' evidence to the contrary. His guilt over failing to reach out to her overwhelms hims as he listens to her story. As she explains the reasons, he recalls each event -- her yelling after the boy who stole her notes of encouragement, her noteworthy absence from class when her poem was being ripped apart, and the brief intersection of their own lives at a party one night. I will refrain from discussing his part in her tragedy, as that is a story best left to Hannah and Clay.
The more I read about this novel, the more I am overpowered by people's responses to it. Pre-service teachers who read this novel find it a powerful reminder that bullying doesn't always look the way we expect it to; Hannah's story is fundamentally that of how bullying can overwhelm someone's life, but she is not the typical victim. Instead, she's pretty, popular, and smart: not exactly who the American media has taught us spends her time being stuffed into a locker. Instead, she is a victim of gossip, a form of bullying that often goes unnoticed and unpunished (and sometimes condoned, especially in the media). Students who read this novel have the opportunity to see bullying from the victim's perspective, an opportunity that can create empathy and compassion. And with classroom conversation, students can change their own attitudes about bullying, opening up the possibility for courage in the face of this kind of adversity.
There does exist some controversy about this book. After all, a variety of dangerous, even criminal, issues are present: underage drinking, sexual assault, drunk driving, rape, and voyeurism (in the form of a Peeping Tom). And of course on top of that is the major issue of bullying and a resultant suicide. I can understand why, even in my own school district, there is argument over this book. I don't care: I want this book read. and I want it read in schools. I want it taught in schools. The emotions this book can inspire, the abilities it can awaken in students and teachers, the lessons it can teach, are worth every ounce of controversy it might create. It is a novel worth fighting for.
Read this book. There is no better advice I can offer for this novel.
