Ready Reference Treatise: Thirteen Reasons Why

By Raja Sharma

“Thirteen Reasons Why” by Jay Asher was first published in 2007. It is a young adult novel that has been published in seventeen different countries across the world.

In July 2011, the book reached the top of the New York Times best seller list. It is the winner of several literary awards which include International Reading Association Award, Writing Conference Literature Festival Award, and Young Adult Library Services Association Award.

It was also the winner of the California Book Award in 2008. The book’s popularity is still on the rise and millions of copies of the novel have been sold across the globe.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Raja Sharma
• Release date: Sep 24, 2016
• ISBN: 9781370942206

Raja Sharma

Raja Sharma is a retired college lecturer.He has taught English Literature to University students for more than two decades.His students are scattered all over the world, and it is noticeable that he is in contact with more than ninety thousand of his students.

Book preview

Ready Reference Treatise: Thirteen Reasons Why

Copyright

Ready Reference Treatise: Thirteen Reasons Why

Raja Sharma

Copyright@2016 Raja Sharma

Smashwords Edition

All rights reserved

Chapter One: Introduction

Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher was first published in 2007. It is a young adult novel that has been published in seventeen different countries across the world.

In July 2011, the book reached the top of the New York Times best seller list. It is the winner of several literary awards which include International Reading Association Award, Writing Conference Literature Festival Award, and Young Adult Library Services Association Award.

It was also the winner of the California Book Award in 2008. The book’s popularity is still on the rise and millions of copies of the novel have been sold across the globe.

The book draws its inspiration from the author’s own experience in high school. The character of Clay Jenses is based on the real life character, probably the author himself. The author had also faced a similar tragedy as the central character as a relative of the author had tried to commit suicide.

Before writing the novel, the author is said to have met several of his female friends to learn about their experiences in high school. He was basically focused on their emotions as teenagers.

The novel is very popular among its young readers and it has been included in the reading lists of several libraries and academic institutions around the world.

Chapter Two: Plot Overview

Clay Jensen is the central character. He happens to be a shy high school student. As the novel opens, one day, when he comes back home from school, he finds that there is a mysterious package waiting for him in the mail.

When he opens the package, he finds thirteen cassette tapes recorded by his classmate named Hannah Baker. She happens to have recently committed suicide. It is revealed that Hannah has blamed thirteen people, including Clay, for her depression before her death.

The tapes reveal how each of those thirteen people drove her closer to suicide. The tapes are to be passed between those thirteen people. She has mentioned the order in which the tapes are supposed to be passed between the thirteen people.

She also claims that she has already given a second set of those tapes to an anonymous classmate. She warns that if those tapes do not reach the thirteen people mentioned by her, her unnamed classmate will leak those tapes to the whole school.

It is revealed that Justin was the first person to have received those tapes. It is revealed that Hannah had met Justin soon after she had come to that town. Hannah and Justin had kissed once. Hannah reveals that she developed crush on Justin, but Justin told his friends that they did not than just kiss. Consequently, Hannah’s reputation in school got spoiled and she was labelled as a slut.

Alex was the second person to receive those tapes. Hannah reveals that she was once his friend. However, Alex did not prove to be a good friend as he violated their friendship when he published a hot or not list that compared the girls in the class. Alex gave Hannah the title of Best Ass. It was an added blow to her bad reputation as a slut. Alex also gave the title of Worst Ass to his girlfriend Jessica. He did that because his girlfriend Jessica had broken up with him.

Jessica was the third person to receive Hannah’s tapes. Hannah used to be Jessica’s friend. When Alex compared Jessica to Hannah on his ‘hot or not’ list, Jessica got furious and she slapped Hannah. Their friendship ended then and there. The slap was too strong and it left a scar on Hannah’s forehead. That scar is the obvious sign of the hidden pain that Hannah feels inside.

Tyler is the fourth classmate to receive Hannah’s tapes. Tyler had worked as a photographer for the school yearbook. Hannah suspected Tyler of taking her pictures from her bedroom window. She took the help of her other classmate Courtney to catch Tyler while he is taking Hannah’s pictures. One night, Courtney stayed with Hannah in her bedroom. Courtney insisted that they start giving sensual messages to each other so that Tyler could be excited. Suddenly, they opened the curtains and found that Tyler was running away from the house window. Hanna accuses Tyler of making her feel unsafe in her own bedroom.

Courtney, Hannah’s classmate and friend, was the fifth person to receive Hannah’s tapes. Hannah mentions in her tapes that Courtney used Hannah to become more popular. Courtney was known as the sweetest girl in school, but it was not her true nature. One day, she disclosed her true nature to Hannah when she spread the message about their sensual messages they gave each other to excite Tyler who was going to take Hannah’s pictures through her bedroom window. That rumor further strengthened Hannah’s reputation as a slut and consequently she was deeply hurt.

Marcus who had believed the rumours about Hannah and tried to use those rumours to disadvantage of Hannah and to take advantage of her was the sixth person to