Book 1 Project

Book 1 Project: 13 Reasons Why Reading Game

     The game is the Thirteen Reasons Why Reading Game. You will need 3-8 players for the most enjoyable fan experience. Playing this game will help you become closer with the experiences the characters had in the book.

Materials:

3-8 players, one Thirteen Reasons Why book, one pencil for every player, and one piece of paper for every player.

Objective:

 Write the most compliments to your assigned person.

Directions:

1.   Assign every player a partner. If there is an uneven amount of players a group of three can be created as long as everyone writes about another player and no one has two players writing about them.

2.   Now, assign every player a number (starting at one and going in numerical order).

3.   The game begins when Player one reads chapter one. Player two will read chapter two and so forth. Each player will take turns reading their chapter out loud.

4.   Each player will write down or take away compliments to their assigned partner while their partner reads their assigned chapter based on the following rules:

·        Write 2 compliments every time Hannah goes to a party

·        Take away 12 compliment every time Clay wishes he would have talked to Hannah

·        Take away 3 compliments for every person on the tapes

·        Write 3 compliments every time Clay talks to Skye

·        Take away 4 compliment every time Hannah mentions being lonely

·        Take away 3 compliments every time Hannah avoids Clay

·        Take away 10 compliments for every time Hannah is affected by a rumor

·        Write 5 compliments every time Hannah tries to get help

5.   Keep track of every compliment you write or take away. It is possible to go into negatives.

6.   The game can end either when the book ends or every player has read an equal amount of chapters.

Example:

 

     This idea comes from the paper bags in Hannah’s English class. The paper bags allow students to anonymously leave nice things about another student. Hannah likes this idea until she notices somebody stealing out of her paper bag. “It might not seem like a big deal to you, Zach. But now, I hope you understand. I needed those notes. I needed any hope those notes might have offered.” This is one of the events that helps push Hannah to kill herself.  The rules that add or take away the most points are the ones that (negatively or positively) affect the characters in the book the most.

          Taking away compliments when negative events occur represents how Hannah feels throughout the course of the book. The rules for adding and taking away compliments are based off of events in the book. When something bad happens Hannah becomes more and more distraught. When something negative occurs, Hannah gains some hope. But the hope she gains is often outweighed by the negative events.

          The rule “Take away 12 compliments every time Clay wishes he would have talked to Hannah” is based off of multiple scenes in the book. Like when Clay says “I hardly knew Hannah Baker. I mean, I wanted to. I wanted to know her more than I had the chance.” If Clay would have talked to her more than he did he might have been able to save her. Clay worked with Hannah at a movie theater. This means he had multiple chances to talk to her and get to know her. Not talking to Hannah has a major effect on not only Hannah but Clay as well. Talking to Hannah would have let her know he wasn’t alone and could have saved her life. But Clay allowed himself to be scared off by rumors.

     All the rules about rumors are based off rumors in the book and how Hannah is affected. Multiple rumors about Hannah are spread all throughout the book. The rumors affect Hannah in numerous ways like how people only know the lies about Hannah and assume it’s the truth. Here is an example of how Clay saw Hannah based on the rumors “And she was new to the school, so the rumors overshadowed everything else I knew about her.” This shows how even Clay had a hard time seeing past the rumors. This drastically affects any relationship Clay had or could have had with Hannah.

     This game will help engage your friends who have never read the book. Inviting friends who have never read the book before will get them interested. After they’re done reading Thirteen Reasons Why they be interested in similar books and other books by Jay Asher. This game will also entertain your friends who have already read the book. This game will open up discussion of the book on a more social level. This can give more insight and deeper understanding of the book and its topics.

          This game will help people connect with the book on a more personal level. Helping the players understand at least a fraction of what Hannah experienced in the book. The game is designed so the players loose the majority of their compliments. Even though compliments are a small and silly idea, they do matter. Sometimes more than we realize.