May 24th @ 3pm
May’s Book: Thirteen Reasons Why [place a hold]
Clay Jensen, a somewhat shy high school student, returns home from school one day to find an anonymously-sent package sitting on his doorstep. Upon opening it, he discovers that it is a shoebox containing seven cassette tapes recorded by the late Hannah Baker, his classmate and emotionally damaged crush who recently committed suicide by taking a handful of pills. The tapes were initially mailed to one classmate with instructions to pass them from one student to another, in the style of a chain letter, starting from the one involved in the first story to the last. On the tapes, Hannah explains to thirteen people how they played a role in her death, by giving thirteen reasons explaining why she took her life. Hannah has given a second set of tapes to one of their classmates, the identity of whom Clay later discovers, and warns the people on the tapes that if they do not pass them on, the second set will be leaked to the entire student body. This could lead to the public embarrassment and shame of certain people, while others could face physical harassment, charges, or jail time. Through the audio narrative, Hannah reveals her pain and suffering and her spiral into depression that ultimately leads to her death. She lists her first crush, two former friends, a peeping Tom, a liar, a goof who takes advantage of her, a hater, a thief who steals her poems, a member of the list that had already been mentioned, a cheerleader who crashes into a stop sign, a guy she had a sexual encounter with, the guidance counselor, and Clay himself. They all thought their actions were harmless, but they were wrong. Hannah’s tapes will haunt them forever.NOT your mother’s book club.
There will be chips, popcorn, candy, chocolate, soda, water; You tell me what you want. I’ll bring it.
I will be bringing books upon books… upon books and you guys pick out which one you want to read. Twice a month. We read one together. You read one on your own. You don’t have to like it. You don’t have to finish it. Everyone is welcome to come. We’ll be reading YA books.
Check out our facebook page if you’re interested in coming. Email Kristin kpekoll@west-bendlibrary.org if you need a copy of the book for our discussion.
