13 Reasons Why Short Summary

Clay comes home one day to find cassette tapes. When he plays them, he discovers they are from Hannah Baker, a girl who committed suicide. Hannah Baker instructs Clay to give the 13 people mentioned their tapes. If the chain is broken, another incriminating tape is going to be released.

Here Is a Brief Overview of the Plot

The first person addressed is Justin Foley, the girl’s first kiss. Hannah was called slut by the other schoolmates because she disclosed the kiss to his friends. There are maps of the locations to release the tapes. In the tapes, Alex Standall is addressed next. In a list he had compiled in school, he said Hannah had the best ass. This went onto make her be labeled as a slut. There is even a guy that assaulted Hannah because of the labeling.

Jessica Davies was the one addressed in the third tape. In the list compiled by Alex, he claimed Jessica had the ‘worst ass.’ Jessica felt jealous of the fact that Baker was considered the one with the best ass. She continued fueling the ‘slut’ tag on Hannah. After that, they became enemies.

Tape number 4 addresses Tyler Down, the stalker who wanted to take Hannah’s photo through her bedroom window. He makes Hannah feel unsafe. Courtney is the subject of the fifth tape. Courtney abandoned Hannah at a party and even peddled dangerous rumors about her.

Marcus Cooley is the one in the 6^th tape. He had shown up late on Valentine’s date and molested Hannah during the dinner. The 7^th tape is about Zach Dempsey. He has comforted Hannah after the dinner assault. Additionally, he shared a note to the effect that Hannah was suicidal.

Hannah blames Ryan Shaver in the next tape for sharing her poem in a school magazine. In the 9^th tape, Hannah tells Clay he was not to be part of the chain. Clay is described as someone who is genuinely nice. Justin is blamed in the tenth tape for allowing his friends to rape a helpless girl at a party.

Eleventh tape talks of Jenny Kurtz who refused to tell the police about the absence of stop sign on the road. An accident killed their classmates because of that. Hannah addresses Bryce Walker in the twelfth tape. He had sexually assaulted her in a party.

The last tape addresses Mr. Porter. The teacher failed to advise Hannah out of her suicidal thoughts. At the end of this novel by Jay Asher, Clay saves another student, Skye, from committing suicide.