Thirteen Reasons Why

The novel Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher drew a large amount of publicity shortly after the release of a Netflix original series based off the book.  Debates quickly arose over weather children, or people at all, should be exposed this this show and novel.  It tackles the very difficult, but important, topic of teen suicide, but how it is presented in both the show and book is what seems to be the issue.  This novel is centered around thirteen cassette tapes all created by Hannah Baker, who committed suicide; each tape was dedicated to one person, each of whom Hannah deemed a cause of her taking her own life.  This idea of blaming others for her suicide struck many others, as well as me to be counterproductive.  I read several arguments by people who had been depressed or even attempted suicide who believed that this blame was unjust, and unrealistic, however no one can speak to everyone's experiences.  This novel was also a concern to many adults, fearing that there would soon be copycats of Hannah Baker's suicide approach.  This book, and the increased publicity it got from the show did however have many positives.  People were talking about suicide out in the open, people began to address the problem more readily and began to talk about fixing this problem. Suicide is the third leading cause of death to teenagers, taking around 4,600 teenage lives each year according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 2015, meaning that having these discussions on suicide is important.  This is a book that students will certainly need support when reading, and should only be approached when students are ready for it as it deals with issues of not only suicide but also rape and violence.  It is hard to determine when a student is ready for a book of this level but emotional maturity and the ability to approach it with seriousness is important in being ready to read a book with such difficult topics.