Thirteen Reasons (part 1)

There were many aspects of this text that I thought were quite original. The story is about a topic that I am happy to see getting some light shed upon it: the misogynistic way girls are silenced and condemned as being "sluts" based purely on rumors. There were many other aspects besides the plot that I thought were interesting.

The most unique element of the story, I believe, is that instead of just being told a story we are given a scenario where the story has already unfolded and we are left in the position of the main character who must listen to these tapes from a girl who committed suicide. Unfolding this story is essentially the plot of the novel and in this way, it really reminds me of the movie Momento, because how all the events have essentially happened and the main character is just trying to piece every bit of information together.

Another aspect of this novel that I thought was quite unique was the way that the author chose not to separate the book by chapters, but instead by sides of the cassette tapes. The author even goes further and delves into periods of time between the tape playing (indicated by a play symbol), and periods of time where the tape is paused (indicated by a pause sign). I thought that this was an incredibly unique way to organize the book, and I really enjoyed it.

I felt like the book has also done a good job of highlighting issues of gender that are swept under the rug. Too many young females are being sexually assaulted or harassed in some manner and it is a serious issue that needs attention, as sometimes, the person can end up committing suicide in order to relieve themselves of the situation.

I feel like this text positions adolescents in a way that they are seen as real people, who have to deal with significant issues. The death of a high school student is always tragic--especially so when that death is actually a suicide, a death that would largely be considered preventable. I think that this text would especially appeal to young people because of its pacing, and unique writing style. The plot is also incredibly engaging as you are basically finding out all the information at the same time as the main character. I think that adolescents aren't shown as either weak or strong necessarily, but rather as human.

Overall, I would have to give this book a score of an A- so far. The reason that I would give it an A- instead of an A is that I feel like some of the characters aren't quite one hundred percent believable. In particular, I find it slightly hard to believe that a girl in Hannah's situation would be so humorous throughout her cassette tapes detailing the reasons that she committed suicide. However, I suppose that this is completely subjective; often times people resort to humor in order to deal with incredibly difficult scenarios. I happen to be one of these people, and even times when I have gone to the E.R. I made jokes on the way there. I'm not sure this would be a scenario I would be compelled to be funny in though.

Between Shades of Gray

First of all, I really enjoyed how quickly the plot picked up. It was very exciting even from the very first chapter of the book. It is a very engaging story that I think captures the essence of what it meant to be arrested and captured in a time of war. The character development is fairly good throughout the first half of the book; especially in regard to Lina and Jonas. They knew nothing of the extreme death of war at the start of the book, but by midway through they've been steeped in death, which Jonas's scratch marks for the dead children can attest to being true. I couldn't imagine being in that kind of scenario, especially when Ona is shot by the NKVD. To watch a person's life drained out of them in front of your eyes would cause anyone to grow in age beyond their years. I thought this was a great development for the characters that survived though because it really showed them how awful the NKVD can be. I also enjoy how Lina seems to be able to help herself much better than, say, Eleanor from Eleanor and Park. I did not like Eleanor as a character because of her lack of self-agency, but Lina is put into a situation where if she doesn't help herself, then she may end up dead.

This text definitely positions adolescents in a way that you see them as experienced beyond their years, and very strong. You have to be to be able to survive in an environment where corpses are jettisoned from the box cars like fleas. I would say that they most certainly are not stereo typically represented in this book; I believe that this is a product of the environment that the characters are in, as being arrested during a time of war is something that very few teenagers in America would face in present day times. I think this text would appeal to young adults because it is extremely engaging, and gives them insight to how awful times of war can be. It lets them experience a tragedy that they would never be faced with otherwise. I think it would be a great novel to teach young adult students the seriousness of war and death -- ever present themes in the present day world, although most war events would take place in other parts of the world.

Overall, so far I would definitely give Between Shades of Gray a rating of an "A". From the very first sentence of this book, I was hooked. I found the pages bleeding into each other and I was completely engrossed in the story. I think that a story that can have this kind of profound content while still detailing a compelling and narrative is a very strongly written book indeed.