One of the best Life Lesson books I have read in quite some time!
D1SCUSSION QU3STIONS - From Teen Penguin, Point of View
• How does Hannah and Clay’s dual narrative enhance the story? What
additional details are revealed through this method of storytelling
that might have otherwise remained secret if the book had been
written from only one of their perspectives? How might the story have
changed if the book had been written from one of the other people’s
perspectives instead of Clay’s? For example, Tony’s?
• Consider the title of the novel. Are each of Hannah’s thirteen reasons
of equal importance? Which do you find to be the most unexpected?
Who is responsible for Hannah’s death? Why do you think Hannah
committed suicide?
• The inside of the book jacket for Thirteen Reasons Why pictures a
replica of the map that Hannah leaves for each of the people named
on her tapes. What does being able to visually trace Clay’s route
through town add to your reading experience?
• Discuss the role that the presence of Hannah’s voice plays as
a physical presence on the tapes. Is the impact the tapes have
different from the impression a suicide note would have left? Why do
you think she recorded and left the tapes? If her story had been
recorded on CDs or MP3 files would the effect have been different?
• At the beginning of the first tape, Hannah says, “. . . there are
thirteen sides to every story.” What does she mean by this? Are there
sides to her own story that Hannah doesn’t know? Do you think she
would have made different decisions if she had had the chance to
listen to each of the other thirteen sides?
• Hannah references rumors that she hoped to get away from when
her family moved. What do you imagine she meant? Define the
word “rumor.” What comment does this story make about rumors in
general? Discuss how rumors and truth can be connected. Is one more
powerful than the other? Can rumors be positive? Does Hannah’s story
change your original point of view on this subject?
• Hannah also says, “No one knows for certain how much impact they
have on the lives of other people. Oftentimes, we have no clue. Yet we
push it just the same.” Discuss the concept of individual perception
and how it contributes to how Hannah’s story plays out. What do you
think she means by “pushing it”? Further on, Hannah says, “. . . I’m
sure you must have thought, This can’t be why I’m on the tapes. It wasn't a big deal.”
How did each of her thirteen reasons push her
to her final decision? Do you think they would have each made
different decisions about their actions if they had known how they
were impacting Hannah’s life?
• During Jessica’s tape, Hannah says, “. . . you would rather believe
some made–up rumor than what you knew to be true . . . It was
easier to accept. Easier to understand. For [you], the rumors needed
to be true.” What does Hannah mean by this?
How can the truth sometimes be more difficult to confront than a lie? Discuss the author’s use
of the word “need” in the above quotation. How does this particular
word choice impact the meaning of Hannah’s sentence?
• Why do you think Clay's mom reacts to Clay's actions and responses
to her questions the way she does? Do you think she knows he’s
lying? Why doesn’t she question him?
• Hannah compares poetry to puzzles and then likens the audio tapes
she recorded to poetry. Do you agree with her reasoning? How does
this idea keep reappearing throughout the story?
• Discuss the concept of the Lost–N–Found Gazette and how it applies
to the main themes of truth, betrayal, rumors, and secrets that run
throughout the story.
• Discuss the phrase “The truth will set you free.” How does this apply
to the story Hannah tells? Does truth really gift freedom? Is there
power in knowing? Is there always peace in knowledge?
• Discuss the significance of what the man behind the counter at
Rosie’s says to Clay when Clay is about to leave the restaurant.
• While walking to the party, Hannah says, “Even the best moments
of the night were affected by that one incident—by that nonincident—in front of my old house.”
Describe the difference between
“incidents” and “non-incidents.” How can the lack of interaction be
just as important or influential as actual confrontation?
• At the beginning of Clay’s tape, Hannah says, “I’m not even sure how
much of the real Clay Jensen I got to know over the years. Most of what
I knew was second–hand information. And that’s why I wanted to know
him better. Because everything I heard—I mean everything!—was
good.” How does this relate back to and complicate Hannah’s previously
stated feelings about rumors and hearsay and the idea that sometimes people
need to believe certain things, regardless of truth?
• Hannah mentions reputations and their consequences repeatedly
on the tapes. Why is her reputation important to her? What sort of
reputations do the other people on the tapes have? How many of
them are disproved through the information Clay learns from the
tapes? How does Hannah’s reputation influence Clay’s interaction
with her? What is he afraid of?
• Why did Clay leave the room after kissing Hannah? Do you think he
had to? What else could he have done? Why does Hannah consider
• While listening to his tape, Clay says to Hannah, “You chose this. You
had a choice and you pushed me away. I would have helped you.” Do you
agree with Clay? Did Hannah consciously make the choice he says she
did? What other choices did Hannah have besides suicide? The story
revolves around thirteen reasons she believed contributed to the end
of her life. Are there thirteen equally important reasons she had to live?
• What does the stop sign that Jenny hits with her car come to
symbolize? Discuss what Clay means when he says, “We all could
have stopped something.” How does this relate back to Hannah’s
decision not to stop the situation between Bryce and Jessica at the
party? How do you think that event in particular affected Hannah
and her decision to take her own life?
• What roles do adults play in what happened to Hannah? Do you think any
adult could have done something that would have helped Hannah?
Why do you think Hannah decides to include only one adult on her
tapes? Why does she open the truth of her story to an adult at all?
Why Mr. Porter in particular?
• Why do you think that Hannah chooses to record her conversation
with Mr. Porter rather than comment on their interaction afterwards
like she had done with the twelve previous stories? Does this tactic
have a different effect?
• At the end of the story, Hannah asks Mr. Porter to define friendship.
How would you have responded to this question? What do you think
Mr. Porter would have said had Hannah not interrupted him? Discuss
the role that friendship plays throughout the story. Hannah says she
“never thought of Jessica or Alex as friends.” How did having friends
or a lack of friends contribute to her tragedy?
• Mr. Porter tells Hannah that besides filing charges with the police,
she has two options for dealing with what happened at the after party.
He tells her she can confront the other person or move on. Do
you agree that these are her only options? What do you think Clay was
hoping Mr. Porter would say to Hannah?
• Reflect on Hannah and Clay’s last words to each other in the hallway
at school. Discuss their greater meaning within the context of the
story. Compare and contrast their last words to the other times in the
novel when these same words are uttered under different circumstances.
How is it relevant that Clay hears Skye utter these words?
• Discuss Skye’s role in the story. Compare and contrast her to Hannah. What
do you think Clay says to Skye when he catches up with her in the hallway?
• Why do you think the author ended the story the way he did? How do
you think Clay is changed by listening to Hannah’s tapes? Do you think
the tapes had similar effects on the other listeners? Do you think they
all followed Hannah’s instructions in the same manner that Clay did?
How do you imagine their experiences to be different?
• Could anything have saved Hannah? If one link in this chain of events
had been different, which one do you think would have made the most
difference for Hannah? How would a change in that specific event have
impacted the remaining portion of the other thirteen reasons that followed?
• What will you remember from reading this novel?
• Read Jay Asher’s responses to thirteen questions about Thirteen Reasons
Why, which are printed in the back of the book. Had you the chance,
would you have asked Jay the same thirteen questions after reading
the story? What else would you like to know? Which of his responses
surprised you the most? How do his answers help you to better understand Hannah and the novel?
