Tonight many students and parents filled Adlai E. Stevenson High School’s auditorium to see and talk with Jay Asher the author of the bestseller Thirteen Reasons Why and his most recent book, written with Carolyn Mackler, The Future of Us. Asher came to talk about how he became a writer, about his books and about topics that directly relate to high schoolers.

Asher began his writing career in high school on his school newspaper. He began by explaining how he wrote a good review on rapper Vanilla Ice (who was popular at the time) and got made fun of by fellow students.

“My adviser had something really meaningful to say about that. No matter what you write, it has power,” said Asher.

After realizing that journalism wasn’t for him, he began writing humorous children’s books. None of them got published, but this did not stop him from writing.

He went to Las Vegas and went on a cassette tape tour through the Luxor Pyramid. This is where he got half of the idea for his bestseller Thirteen Reasons Why. His second influence was a close family member, the same age as he made Hannah Baker in the novel, attempted suicide. For many of the cassette tape stories in the novel, Asher felt he needed to hear stories from a females perspective.  To do this, he asked his wife and some other female friends about their experiences in high school that they thought they would never get over, or still haven’t gotten over. Not only did this give him inspiration, it caused the group of friends to open up and talk about things they never have to anyone while these events were going on in their lives. Before he started writing, he had to think about if he wanted to write it because he previously only wrote funny children’s books, until he realized how important it is to write this novel. He knew at first that many people who would pick up the book, would put it down because it was too sad. Then he decided to make it a suspense novel to keep the reader interested. He then began to write the book and three years later, it was finally finished.

Thirteen Reasons Why is a powerful book that focuses on the suicide of Hannah Baker. Before committing suicide Hannah made seven tapes with 13 stories explaining what led up to her suicide. After each person receives the tapes, they are to send it onto the next person on the list. Clay Jensen is number 9. The story follows his journey listening to Hannah’s journey before her suicide.

Asher tried many times to get his book published, on his lucky 13th try, he finally did.

The book is very near to Asher’s heart since the story was influenced by his own experiences with his family member and friends. The book focuses on rumors and teenage problems that every high schooler has possibly faced.

“I think the book really shows that you can go to school with people day after day but unless you’re friends with them you only know what you heard about them,” said Asher.

In 2012, Thirteen Reasons Why was the third most frequently challenged book as reported by the American Library Association. This makes Asher very passionate about the banned books list. He believes his book needs to be out there for teenagers everywhere to read and relate to.

He was afraid to write a second book because the first one went so well. But he eventually joined author Carolyn Mackler and wrote The Future of Us. The story is based in 1996 before Internet was popular and best friends Josh and Emma receive an AOL disk that gives them 1,000 free hours online. When they try to use it, they see their future through their Facebook pages (Facebook hasn’t been created yet) and seek to change their fate.

Although nothing has been confirmed yet, Asher is in contact with actress Selena Gomez about a movie based on Thirteen Reasons Why. He hopes to have good news sometime in the near future.