13 Reasons Why (post 1)

“Hello boys and girls. Hannah Baker here. Live and in stereo.
I don’t believe it.
No return engagements. No encore. And this time, absolutely no requests.
No, I can’t believe it. Hannah Baker killed herself.
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 these tapes, you’re one of the reasons why.
What? No!
I’m not saying which tape brings you into the story. But fear not, if you received this lovely little box, your name will pop up… I promise. Now why would a dead girl lie?
Hey! That sounds like a joke. Why would a dead girl lie?
Answer: because she can’t stand up.
Is this some kind of twisted suicide note?
Go ahead laugh.
Oh well, I thought it was funny.
Before Hannah died, she recorded a bunch of tapes. Why?
The rules are pretty simple. There are only two. Rule number one: you listen. Rule number two: you pass it on. Hopefully neither one will be easy for you.
“What’s that you’re playing?”
“Mom!”
I scramble for the stereo, hitting several buttons all at once.

I love this book. Not many books I read can make me want to read more. This one does the trick. In the book “13 Reasons Why”, a high school student, Hannah Baker, commits suicide by overdosing on pills. Before she dies she makes 13 audio cassette tapes stating who and what caused her to die as well as why she did it. The main character, Clay Jensen, receives the tapes. He is confused as to why he was on the list of people because in his mind he didn’t do anything wrong to her. In fact, he cared a lot for her. Hannah Baker was a new girl in the school. She had a crush on some guy who was reason number one on her tapes. Apparently, she met up with this boy one night and kissed him. Just once… nothing serious. The next day when she shows up to school, rumors are flying through the hallways claiming that she had hooked up with him. All of the sudden, she’s labeled as the school slut. Already her reputation has been tarnished.
As the story carries on, the narrator says that in the weeks preceding her untimely death, she stuffs maps of the city into the lockers of the people on the tapes. On this map, 13 blue stars mark places of significance to her story. She advises that the listener visit each place. This causes Clay’s stomach to turn. So far, Hannah has only told stories of 3 people. In order to keep this away from his nosey mother, he steals a cassette player and headphones from his best friend. The spot where I left off was where he was sitting on the curb deep in thought listening to a dead girl speak.