Is There Ever a Good Reason Why?

At this point in my life, I've identified a handful of young adult books that have become more than stories to me. There is no other way to put it than to say that they are companions to me now. The characters are like friends, the settings exist, and seeing the plots resolve again and again is unbelievably satisfying. Because of that, I'm now on a rotation that I expect to take about three years in which I'll read them all. And then start over and do it again.

If you're curious, the series are Little House on the Prairie, by Laura Ingalls Wilder; The Chronicles of Narnia, by C.S. Lewis; Betsy and Tacy, by Maud Hart Lovelace; A Wrinkle In Time, by Madeleine L'Engle; Anne of Green Gables, by L.M. Montgomery; Harry Potter, by J.K. Rowling; and Christy Miller, by Robin Jones Gunn. There are also a handful of stand-alones: Stargirl and Love, Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli; When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead; The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon; Edward's Eyes by Patricia MacLachlan; and All Alone In The Universe and Criss Cross by Lynne Rae Perkins.

The reasons why I love these books and why they have become essentially perpetual re-reads for me will become clear when I read and blog about them. I just finished Harry Potter, so you'll have to wait a while for me to write about those. And I'll be starting Little House on the Prairie again soon. But as I read these series, I often collect recommendations for other young adult books, which I then read all in a row before I start the next series. This row will be especially long because I'm part of a young adult book club at work and plan to finish all the books for that this month.

Which leads me to today's book. It's Jay Asher's Thirteen Reasons Why, and I read it for this month's "real life issues" club meeting. The real life issue in Asher's book, which he confronts head-on, is suicide. The premise is that Hannah Baker, a high school student, kills herself, but before that, she records seven tapes with stories about all the people who have harmed her and are therefore the "reasons why" she has ended her life. Clay Davis gets the tapes from the previous listener and narrates his way through listening to them for the reader.

Clay has a very hard time listening to the tapes, understandably. As he does so, he travels around his little town, visiting various locations where the events Hannah talks about happened. He relives her painful memories of bullying, gossip, and sexual assault. He's very confused about how he fits into her story, but it turns out his role in it is a bit different from the others. He had a more positive impact on her. And in some ways, that was one of the book's weaknesses.

Up until Clay's role in Hannah's life is revealed, the book is suspenseful. As Hannah details offenses, major and minor, committed against her by her fellow students, both the reader and Clay are on the edge of their seats wondering what he did. But it turns out to be almost nothing. All the while, I wanted to get inside the heads of the kids who did do horrible things to her. Villains are always more interesting, right? Clay is almost too squeaky clean, too perfect. On the one hand, that makes him a great foil for Hannah's mental instability. On the other hand, it makes him less believable.

Hannah herself is an intriguing character as well. I found myself vacillating between sympathy for her and annoyance with her. She did experience some terrible things. And Asher does a nice job of making it clear that it was really the sum total of those things that did Hannah in. She is an ordinary teenager in many ways, and she's hurt by gossip, by betrayal, by rejection. I had moments, though, where I felt frustrated with the way she blamed everyone around her. Clay gets frustrated, too, which helps. It let me know that the author himself knew that the things Hannah experienced don't excuse her choice. Ultimately, help was there and she didn't reach quite far enough for it. I'm sure it's tempting for those who survive a loved one's suicide to blame themselves, but it's never that simple. While others may contribute, we each have to make the choice every day to go on. I say all that with the caveat that mental illness is real, and sometimes people succumb to its pull. It's difficult to blame the victim in that case, but I still don't think it's anyone else's fault.

One thing Asher doesn't give is any clues that Hannah herself is mentally ill. She's obviously unstable enough to find suicide a viable option to her suffering, but it's almost as though Asher is arguing that any ordinary person could do that. Maybe they could. I don't know. And I think it's critical that we are sensitive to those around us, seeking ways to show kindness and empathy when someone is struggling. But it really makes me sad that anyone ever thinks the only way out is suicide. There's never a good reason for that.