unlucky number thirteen

If you were going to die what would you do? If you were going to die by your own hand would that change what you would do? Hanahh Baker isn't going to stay and spend time with her loved ones, she is going to leave them. Why? Just listen to her. Her tale unfolds in 13 (unlucky) tapes that explain her reasons as to why she did what she did. And these are some of the last words of a dying girl, shouldn't that mean even more to us? Listen and learn so that this doesn't happen to someone else.

13 Reasons Why this book has an impact

Words are more powerful than we imagine. Well maybe as avid readers we might recognize the power of words as they are written and consumed. But the old saying "sticks and stones may break your bones, but words can never hurt you" is extremely false. We also tend not to think about the consequences of our actions - littering, spreading rumors, lying, bulling, teasing, etc. This book is powerful in how it shows the interconnectedness of everything, even though some might dislike the format that it is executed in. An important lessons for everyone to learn is in this book, and I believe receiving the message is the important thing. Our actions just like in science have equal and opposite reactions. The thing to remember is that we can't always control the reactions of others, but we can control our own actions.

Please Stop Laughing at Me - a nonfiction companion

This link leads to another powerful book about the hurtful power that words can have and the story of a 'survivor' of bullying. Hannah Baker became a victim instead of becoming a survivor. This book could have an excerpt pulled out of it to parallel what is going on with Hannah. This is a true story and the impact of this combined with Asher's text cold help to changes students for the better.