Reading for Intermediate and Advanced Learners, Fall, 2011

Nakita and I will have read pages 1-144 by September 7th. We will then read pages 145-288 by September 14th. We will post reactions on the blog periodically as we read.

After reading half of this book, I am, first, intrigued by the way the author writes and second, interested in Hannah's reasons why she committed suicide. I like the way Jay Asher writes from both Hannah's perspective and Clay's perspective. As a reader, beginning this book was a bit confusing, but after catching on to the format of the book, I like the back and forth between Hannah and Clay. I also like how Jay Asher uses the symbols of stop, play, pause and rewind in his book. In chapter books readers don't usually see symbols so it is fun to see those symbols and relate them to the story.
Hannah's life in high school does not seem much different from many other high schoolers lives. High school is difficult for many adolescents, but somehow they learn to deal with thier issues in a more mature way than suicide. I understand that Hannah has been mistreated and maybe even abused emotionally, but nothing that I have read yet supports her decision to take her own life. I am interested to see the role that Clay plays in all of this, but I am sure that Asher is saving his role for the end of the story. I predict that he may be the one that she was paired with for the Oh-My-Dollar-Valentine. I feel that as the story progresses, Clay will continue to blame himself and wonder what he could have done to save her.

As I read these first 144 pages of this book so many thoughts and questions came to my mind. My first thought was that nothing so far in this girl's life warranted her taking her own. So many times I really just wanted to yell to her;" Honey, it's only high school. After it is over you NEVER have to be around this particular group of people again! My first question was did she talk to her parents or ANY adult? My observation is that she seems to blaming everyone else when she simply could have put a stop to any harassment by going to her parents, a principal, even the police if need be! If it wasn't big enough for her to report then it definitely wasn't big enough for her to kill herself over!

As I read the second half of this book, I read it with the mindset of a high school girl. At 23 years old, I do not see the need to commit suicide over the issues that she faced, however; she was not 23, she was 17. Everything in your life is exaggerated at 17. Boys are the most important thing, your image is the most important thing, what others think of you is the most important thing, the football game on Friday is the most important thing and your friends are the most important thing. Hannah Baker could not get past all of the small things that had been said to her by others and find who she really was. She let others define her and ultimately kill her. As a reader, I wish that she would have reached out to more people or discussed this option with others because from Clay's perspective, she had people that wanted to save her, but Hannah Baker herself did not want to be saved. Hannah's whole life was dramatic and so she felt the need to make her death dramatic by killing herself and also releasing tapes to others to make them experience what she went through. As dramatic as Hannah's life was, she wanted to create drama in other's lives by making these tapes for them to listen to.
I did not like how she ended the tapes with the word "thank you." I am not sure who she is thanking. I would assume maybe it is sarcastic and she is thanking everyone that was mentioned on the tapes for "making" her end her life. As a reader, I like certainty, so I did not like how the book ended with Clay chasing the girl in the hallway. I would have liked a more definitive ending. I can assume that he is going to try to save her as well since he sees some of the same traits in her as he saw in Hannah before her death. I wish Jay Asher would have ended it with him talking to her, instead of him chasing her.
Overall, I really enjoyed this book even though I did not agree with Hannah's decision and she frustrated me at times. I love how Jay Asher wrote the book with the back and forth between Clay and Hannah. I enjoyed each of Clay's thoughts and his reactions to Hannah's words. He gave excellent background knowledge to the things that Hannah said. The introducing of different characters by Asher kept my attention as well, I never knew what was coming next so I had to continue reading. I will definitely recommend this book to my friends. It was well written and hooked me as a reader quickly. I look forward to reading more of Asher's work.

As I read the second half of this book I was still searching for one major event that led Hannah to her suicide. As I approached the end of the book I had yet to find one. Hannah's family appeared to be hardworking people who tried the best they could to provide for their daughter. I felt that Hannah used those around her as an excuse for the angst she was feeling about her own life. The harassment that Hannah endured was difficult, but there are teens out there who have endured so much more than their name appearing on a list of Who's Hot and Who's Not. I found myself at points almost mocking Hannah and saying; "Oh boo hoo little girl! Get over it!"
If this book teaches one lessons to teens it should be that lies and rumors can be harmful. But I still did not and do not believe that it was any reason to kill herself. I agree completely with Clay when he said at one point that she was simply looking for a reason to do it. First she blamed the first kiss, then the list, then the peeping, etc...etc...etc.I feel that Hannah purposely shut herself off from others to further her own loneliness. Hannah had counselors and teachers she could have reached out to at any point. She intentionally pushed Clay away. I also wondered if she was just attention seeking?