Books truly are a way of life.

They immerse people into completely different worlds, especially considering all the different genres.

This is the first of many pieces from our “March is reading month” series.

In this series we will be taking a genre, explaining it, and giving two books that fit the genre, explaining those also.

The books that will be used as examples are those of which students at Kearsley High School have read and loved.

Tragedy

This genre covers all of the major mishaps that may happen in life.

For example, in most of Shakespeare’s plays the characters end up dead or unhappy, and that is a tragedy.

Typically, the main character is flawed in this type of book, especially in Jay Asher’s “Thirteen Reasons Why” and Laurie Anderson’s “Wintergirls.”

“Thirteen Reasons Why”

Sophomore Hannah Alexander loves how real this book is.

“‘Thirteen Reasons Why,’ by Jay Asher really shows how bullying can mentally and physically affect a person,” Alexander said. “I think everyone should read this book because it is reality.”

This novel was published in 2007, yet is still loved by many.

“Thirteen Reasons Why”  is set in small-town Crestmont, where everybody knows everyone and everything.

The book starts when high school student Clay Jensen finds a mysterious package on his porch.

The package is a set of tapes made by a girl named Hannah Baker.

As it turns out, Baker had killed herself and left the tapes behind to reveal to her peers why she did so.

Throughout the book, Jensen is listening to the tapes and learning about Baker’s life while re-evaluating his own.

Baker proves that you never truly know all of someone’s life until it is too late.

Asher uses Baker as a way to show the feelings of someone that has been hurt or bullied, someone that holds their feelings inside.

For Alexander, the novel teaches a great lesson to consider your thoughts before saying them aloud.

“No one really thinks about what they say to other people before they actually say it,” Alexander said.

“Wintergirls”

This book was published in 2009.

It is about two friends who suffer from eating disorders. Lia Overbrook is anorexic, while Cassie Parrish is bulimic, and they feed off of each other in their toxic relationship.

During their senior year, Parrish decides to break off from her friend. Parrish commits suicide months later.

Because of her former friend’s death,  Overbrook falls into an even deeper despair, starting to harm herself and starve herself even more.

The theme of this book is how the girls, especially Overbrook, are always stuck in the state of living, but not being alive and happy. Hence, the name “Wintergirls”: they are always frozen in that state of mind.

Other tragic books

• “If I Stay” by Gayle Forman
• “The Fault in Our Stars” and “Looking for Alaska” by John Green
• “The Perks of Being a Wallflower” by Stephen Chbosky
• “Living Dead Girl” by Elizabeth Scott
• “Before I Die” by Jenny Downham
• “Before I Fall” by Lauren Oliver