What's In Your Library Bag Wednesday?..

     Welcome to another edition of What's In Your Library Bag Wednesday? This week I thought I'd talk about a book that one of my coworkers, Emily, just finished and told me all about. Sounds definitely thought provoking and like one I'd enjoy reading.
     The book is Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher. It is a YA (young adult) selection and it is about suicide. The main character, a teenage girl, commits suicide and the rest of the book is the 13 reasons (events/people) why. She records messages on cassette tapes to the 13 people that influenced her decision to commit suicide. So, as each one listens you piece together the whole story of what affected her and why. Reasons like, a cry for help to a guidance councilor who didn't taker her seriously and a school bully who wouldn't stop. Emily told me that the story/author really makes you stop and take a look at suicide and why someone might choose to do it. It really puts you in their shoes, so to speak. This thought provoking young adult novel, Thirteen Reasons Why,  reminds me of many of the Jodi Piccoult novels I've read. In fact, she wrote one called The Pact, which is about a teen suicide pact. The other characteristic of this novel that reminds me of Jodi Piccoult is the idea that through the story, the author can actually make you see the point of view of whom you would traditionally consider the "bad guy"or at least not popular character, like the one committing suicide. Not that the person committing suicide is bad; it's just not usually viewed as an acceptable choice. I find this a really great quality of a fiction book; for the author to be able to make me look at something that is real, like suicide, and make me look at it differently than I ever have before.
     So, if you are up for a great thought provoking read, try Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher or give a Jodi Piccoult novel a whirl. You won't be disappointed.