Jall's Blog

            Last summer, I won a free book from the Champaign Public Library. I was able to choose from a large selection of books that were locked away behind a glass bookcase. After looking through my choices of books, I quickly realized that it would hard decision to only choose one. The librarian saw me holding a book as I was reading the blurb on the back cover and asked whether it was the one I chose. I decided that I wanted to read more mystery books and since the librarian needed to lock the case back up, I quickly grabbed the first mystery book I saw in the display, which was The Summer She Went Missing by Chelsea Ichaso.     The Summer She Went Missing begins as 16-year-old Paige Redmond arrives at Clearwater Ridge, for her family and the Covington's annual summer tradition. She meets her best friend Audrey Covington, and they spend the beginning of their summer having fun in the water and hanging out together.      W...

       I chose to write a review on Thirteen Reasons Why because I read it last year for ELA, and I found it really interesting and intriguing. It was one of those books that stuck with me even after I finished it. FIRST, I want to say that this book covers a lot of difficult and sensitive topics, including mental health, bullying, peer pressure, and suicide. Some of these topics will also be mentioned in my review.       The story is about a boy named Clay Jensen who receives a mysterious package in the mail one day. Inside the package are thirteen cassette tapes, each recorded by Hannah Baker (a girl from Clay’s school who he has a crush on, and who recently died by suicide). The tapes are a kind of audio diary, but with a very specific purpose. Each tape reveals a different reason why Hannah decided to end her life. Each side focuses on a specific person and event that made up the 13 reasons. These are people who, in one way or another, hurt he...