“The clerk takes the package. The same show box that sat on my porch less than twenty-four hours ago; rewrapped in a brown paper bag, sealed with clear packing tape exactly as I had received it. But now addressed with a new name. The next name on Hannah Baker’s list.

This is how Jay Asher begins his novel, Thirteen Reasons Why.

Thirteen Reasons Why is about Clay Jensen, an average high school student in a small town. One day when Clay is coming home from school, he find a package wrapped in a brown paper bag addressed to him. When he starts to listen to the tapes, he realizes that the voice belongs to his crush, Hannah Baker. The only thing unusual about this is that Hannah has committed suicide two weeks earlier.

While listening to the tapes, Clay is told the rules. “…one: You listen. Number two: You pass it on. Hopefully, neither one will be added,” Hannah then adds, “ And you, lucky number thirteen, you can take the tapes straight to hell. Depending on your religion, maybe I’ll see you there. I did make a copy of these tapes. Those copies will be released in a very public manner if this package doesn’t make it through all of you.”

While listening to the stories of how classmates and friends of both affected the decisions that Hannah had made, you will be able to see inside the mind of her and Clay.

I enjoyed reading this book because of how straight forward Hannah was. Since she had died, she wouldn’t have to hear what everyone would say after. Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher was one of the best books I read in middle school.