VVMBookBlog

Shelby is 13, has three sisters and a mom who happens to be Japanese-American, and who has led an “interesting” life–Shelby and her sisters all have different fathers.  They have all been taught by their mother that what’s important in life is how they look.  That causes Shelby some concern because she doesn’t feel as pretty as her sisters.  What value does she have if she isn’t pretty?

Everything and everyone gets tested when Shelby’s mother is in a bad car accident and ends up in the hospital for a long period of time recovering from disfiguring facial wounds among other physical damage .  Since none of the sisters are old enough to be responsible on their own, they all have to go live with their own fathers, and some of the fathers aren’t so great.  The months spent with their fathers teach them all, including the fathers, what a strong bond the sisters have with each other and the relative importance of “outside beauty” in their lives.

This story really presents a different type of “family” and I’m not sure a similar family in real life would get along as well as these sisters do.  Perhaps I’m being too judgmental and difficult situations bring children together.  What do you think?

Every once in a while I read a book with a story that I know will stay in my head for a long time.  This is one of those books.

Clay comes home from school one day to find on his doorstep a shoebox wrapped in brown paper, addressed to him, and containing 7 cassette tapes labeled by number and side A or B.  He pops the first tape in a cassette player and realizes they are from a classmate, Hannah Baker, who recently committed suicide.  He realizes that Hannah is using these tapes to tell the events leading up to her suicide.  Each side of a tape describes, in order, what each person did that contributed to her decision.  The box of tapes MUST be sent to ALL of the thirteen people or a second set of tapes will be released to the general public for all to hear. Since the tapes discuss events that lead to actual crimes, such as rape, it’s important to the thirteen people to keep the tapes a secret among themselves.

Hannah’s words spoken on the tapes are written in italics and her words are interspersed with Clay’s thoughts and actions as he spends the next several hours listening to the tapes and going to the locations she mentions.  Clay really liked Hannah and is heartbroken to hear her story and what happened to her, realizing he could have stepped in many times to help.

The power of this book is realizing how “little” things done among students in our classrooms, hallways, at parties, etc., can contribute to situations that, over time, make people desperate enough where suicide might seem to be the only way out.  Bullying, harassment, and students just being mean to each other have real consequences and we need to be aware of those affected. And we need to be aware of the people we interact with every day because we never know what else might be going on in their lives.