Thirteen Reasons Why (2007) (edit title/settings)

Ridiculously Simplified Synopsis edit see section history

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Summary edit see section history

Characters/People edit see section history

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• Clay Jensen: He is the main character in this book. He is on Hannah's tapes. The entire book revolves around his listening to the tapes while walking around the city. He had abig crush on Hannah.
• Hannah Baker: She commits suicide and leaves the tapes behind explaining the reasoning behind it. She is misunderstood in many ways and labeled as a slut and a whore by the boys and girls in her class. She has had many problems, mostly regarding bullying, hatred, and usage, and decided to commit suicide, after deciding that her life wasn't worth living and enduring the pain that so many of her peers brought her.
• Tony: A boy at Hannah's school, Clay uses his walkman to listen to the tapes.
• Justin Foley: He is on the tapes and he was Hannah's first kiss.
• Alex Standall: A boy who goes to school with Clay and Hannah. He is on the tapes.
• Jessica Davis: One of Hannah's first friends at her new school. She is on the tapes.
• Tyler Down: A boy who goes to school with Clay. He takes pictures for the school yearbook. He is on Hannah's list.
• Courtney Crimsen: A girl who most consider nice, who often hurts people unintentionally. She is on Hannah's list.
• Marcus Cooley: Is considered to be a funny guy and a player by most people. He is on the tapes.
• Zach Dempsey: A seemingly nice guy who likes Hannah. He is on the tapes.
• Ryan Shaver: Organizes a school newspaper called "Lost and Found" where he reprints written items and pictures that he has found lying around the school. He is on teh tapes.
• Jenny Kurtz: A cheerleader at Hannah and Clay's school. She is on the tapes
• Bryce Walker: He is a womanizer and treats girls like pieces of meat. He is on the tapes.
• Mr. Porter: A teacher and guidance counselor at Hannah's school. He is on the tapes.
• Hannah Baker: Hannah creates 13 tapes explaining why she commits suicide. The tapes with her voice only gets passed on to the 13 people how helped cause her suicide. She voice leads Clay through their town explain her death.
• Clay Jensen: Clay tells the story. You see how he reacts to the tapes as he follows Hannah around town trying to figure out what caused her death as well as what he did to help.
• Skye Miller: A girl that goes to Clay's school and talks to him on the bus.
• Mr. Oliver: Add a description of this character.
• Jimmy Long
• Steve Oliver
• Ms. Antilly
• Kat: One of Hannah's friends that she meets when she moves to town.
• Ms. Benson
• Mrs. Bradley
• Angela Romero

Quotes edit see section history

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• “You can't stop the future, You can't rewind the past, The only way to the learn the secret... is to press play.”

  Hannah Baker

• “No one knows for certain how much impact they have on the lives of other people. Oftentimes, we have no clue. Yet we push it just the same.”

  Hannah Baker

• “Like driving along a bumpy road and losing control of the steering wheel,tossing you--just a tad--off the road. The wheels kick up some dirt, but you're able to pull it back. Yet no matter how hard you try to drive straight, something keeps jerking you to the side. You have so little control over anything anymore. And at some point, the struggle becomes too much--too tiring--and you consider letting go. Allowing tragedy... or whatever... to happen.”

  Hannah Baker

• “You don’t know what goes on in anyone’s life but your own. And when you mess with one part of a person’s life, you’re not messing with just that part. Unfortunately, you can’t be that precise and selective. When you mess with one part of a person’s life, you’re messing with their entire life. Everything. . . affects everything.”

  Hannah Baker

• “Sometimes we have thoughts that even we don't understand. Thoughts that aren't even true—that aren't really how we feel—but they're running through our heads anyway because they're interesting to think about.”

  Hannah Baker

• “And as I stood there in the hallway--alone--trying to understand what had just happened and why, I realized the truth: I wasn't worth an explanation--not even a reaction.”

  Hannah Baker

• “A flood of emotions rushes into me. Pain and anger, sadness and pity. But most surprising of all, hope.”

  Clay Jenson

• “I hope you're ready, because I'm about to tell you the story of my life. More specifically, why my life ended. And if you're listening to theses tapes, you're one of the reasons why.”

  Hannah Baker

• “So what tipped me off? It's simple, really. Everyone else was getting notes. Everyone! And for the most insignificant of things.”

  Hannah Baker

• “So how important is your security, Tyler? What about your privacy? Maybe it's not as important to you as it was for me, but that's not for you to decide.”

  Hannah Baker

• “When you try rescuing someone and discover they can't be reached, why would you ever throw that back in their face?”

  Hannah Baker

• “In the end, everything matters.”

  Hannah Baker

• “'Put me underneath God's sky and know medon't just see me with your eyes Take away this mask of flesh and bone and see me for my soul alone.”

  Poem by Hannah

• “My deepest and darkest secret? What are you, my gynecologist?”

  Hannah Baker

• “Here’s a tip. If you touch a girl, even as a joke, and she pushes you off, leave … her … alone. Don’t touch her. Anywhere! Just stop. Your touch does nothing but sicken her.”

  Hannah Baker

• “If my love were an ocean, there would be no more land. If my love were a desert, you would see only sand. If my love were a star- late at night, only light. And if my love could grow wings, I'd be soaring in flight.”

  Hannah's poem

• “I meet your eyes you don't even see me You hardly respond when I whisper hello Could be my soul mate two kindred spirits Maybe we're not I guess we'll never know My own mother you carried me in you Now you see nothing but what I wear People ask you how I am doing You smile and nod don't let it end there Put me underneath God's sky and know me don't just see me with your eyes Take away this mask of flesh and bone and see me for my soul alone”

  Hannah's poem "Soul Alone"

• “This time, I was going to be in control of how people saw me. After all, how often do we get a second chance?”

  Hannah Baker

• “....my heart and my trust were in the process of collapsing. And that collapse created a vacuum in my chest. Like every nerve in my body was withering in, pulling away from my fingers and toes. Pulling back and disappearing.”

  Hannah Baker

• “I needed a change, just like they said, so I changed my appearance. The only thing I still had control over.”

  Hannah Baker

• “Suicide. Such a disgusting word.”

  Hannah Baker

• “There is no better way to explore your emotions than with poetry.”

• “If you hear a song that makes you cry and you don’t want to cry anymore, you don’t listen to that song anymore. But you can’t get away from yourself. You can’t decide not to see yourself anymore. You can’t decide to turn off the noise in your head.”

  Hannah Baker

• “You can’t go back to how things were. How you thought they were. All you really have ... is now.”

  Hannah Baker

• “With everything going on in my life—going on in my head—I wanted to talk with you. Really talk. Just once. A chance we never seemed to get at school. Or at work. A chance to ask, Who are you? We didn’t get that chance because I was afraid. Afraid I had no chance with you. That’s what I thought. And I was fine with that. Because what if I got to know you and you turned out to be just like they said? What if you weren’t the person I hoped you were? That, more than anything, would have hurt the most.”

  Hannah Baker

• Popular Highlights from Kindle Customers

• No one knows for certain how much impact they have on the lives of other people. Oftentimes, we have no clue. Yet we push it just the same.

  Highlighted by 411 Kindle customers

• You can’t go back to how things were. How you thought they were. All you really have . . . is now.

  Highlighted by 307 Kindle customers

• You don’t know what goes on in anyone’s life but your own. And when you mess with one part of a person’s life, you’re not messing with just that part. Unfortunately, you can’t be that precise and selective. When you mess with one part of a person’s life, you’re messing with their entire life. Everything . . . affects everything.

  Highlighted by 285 Kindle customers

• If my love were an ocean, there would be no more land. If my love were a desert, you would see only sand. If my love were a star— late at night, only light. And if my love could grow wings, I’d be soaring in flight.

  Highlighted by 263 Kindle customers

• If you hear a song that makes you cry and you don’t want to cry anymore, you don’t listen to that song anymore. But you can’t get away from yourself. You can’t decide not to see yourself anymore. You can’t decide to turn off the noise in your head.

  Highlighted by 200 Kindle customers

• with the realization that no one knew the truth about my life, my thoughts about the world were shaken.

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• Put me underneath God’s sky and know me don’t just see me with your eyes Take away this mask of flesh and bone and see me for my soul   alone

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• I wanted them to know me. Not the stuff they thought they knew about me. No, the real me. I wanted them to get past the rumors. To see beyond the relationships I once had, or maybe still had but that they didn’t agree with. And if I wanted people to treat me that way, then I had to do the same for them, right?

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• Like driving along a bumpy road and losing control of the steering wheel, tossing you—just a tad—off the road. The wheels kick up some dirt, but you’re able to pull it back. Yet no matter how tightly you grip the wheel, no matter how hard you try to drive straight, something keeps jerking you to the side. You have so little control over anything anymore. And at some point, the struggle becomes too much—too tiring—and you consider letting go. Allowing tragedy . . . or whatever . . . to happen.

  Highlighted by 161 Kindle customers

• Looking back, I stopped writing in my notebook when I stopped wanting to know myself anymore.

  Highlighted by 146 Kindle customers

Setting & Locations edit see section history

• Hannah's Map: http://www.thirteenreasonswhy.com/hannahsmap.html
• The Park: When you walk into the park you see the blue and red rocket that Hannah was on waiting for her kiss. Hannah distinctly remembers this slide because they had one just like it at the park in her old town. Next to the rocket is a pair of swings were Hannah and Justin were talking togeather. The park is also surrounded by trees.
• The Diner: When Clay was listening to the tapes at the diner, he saw Tony sitting right behind him. Tony new that Clay was listening to Hannah's cassettes because he's the one that put it by his door. Also, Tony knew that Clay took his cassette player without asking. When Tony left the diner he waited for Clay to come out because he wanted to take Clay to the house party, so he can remember what happened between Hannah and Clay and others.
• Monet's Cafe: Where Clay listens to a tape and where Hannah used to go after school

First Sentence edit see section history

Table of Contents edit see section history

Glossary edit see section history

• Love by Valley Odesho: Having deep feelings for someone

Themes & Symbolism edit see section history

• Becoming an Adult: Deals with teenage angst from a different angle, and how the things we do effect people in the long run.
• Thirteen Reasons: Why was the Novel named "Thirteen Reasons Why" ? Hannah said there is 13 sides to every story, but the real reason is her name is Hannah Baker and a "Baker's" Dozen is 13.
• Suicide and dealing with loss and grief: Dealing with people around you, and realizing how little things can wreck someones life.
• Perception: This book forces you to evaluate how you treat others and how others perceive you. People tend to overlook how one small gesture can dramatically affect someone. This story does all those things.
• Reflection: This book helps you to see as you read the impact that your actions may have on others. It makes you consider what you do or say because you never know how what harshness of your words and rethink them.

Series & Lists edit see section history

Preceded by Eleven Minutes, and followed by The Stranger.

Authors & Contributors edit see section history

1. Jay Asher (Author)

First Edition edit see section history

Awards edit see section history

• Gateway Readers Award (2010: Grades 9-12)
• South Carolina Young Adult Book Award (2010)
• Georgia Peach Award for Teen Readers (2010)
• California Book Award (2007: Young Adult, Silver)
• Heartland Award for Excellence in Young Adult Literature (2009)
• Iowa High School Award (2011-2012)

Classification edit see section history

• Library of Congress: PZ7.A8155 Th
• Dewey: 85622684

Notes for Parents edit see section history

Suicide and some sexual innuendos. A character is raped (non-explicit)

Subjects edit see section history

• Books › Teens › Mysteries

Links to Supplemental Material edit see section history

• Thirteen Reasons Why: A Novel by Jay Asher: This website provides information about the novel Thirteen Reasons Why and the author Jay Asher. There is a blog that has been set up for Hannah Baker, and you can listen to the tapes that are included in the book.

More Books Like This edit see section history