Jay Asher’s New York Times bestseller turned hit Netflix show “Thirteen Reasons Why” is the latest addition to Utah’s growing list of titles banned from all public schools in the state.
The young adult novel follows Clay Jensen, who returns home from school one day to find a mysterious package addressed to him. Inside, he finds several cassette tapes recorded by his classmate Hannah Baker, who died by suicide two weeks earlier.
On the tapes, Hannah explains the 13 reasons, and people, she believes contributed to her decision. As Clay listens, he retraces her experiences with bullying, rumors, betrayal and loneliness, gaining a deeper understanding of how seemingly small actions can have devastating effects.
“The book is essentially 13 stories from Hannah Baker’s life, and most people can relate to at least some of the emotions or situations she describes,” Asher said about his book in a 2014 interview with School Library Journal. “And what she talks about are things that are difficult to discuss, so far too often we don’t discuss them. Books can be a nonthreatening and safe way to explore these issues, which makes the book then feel personal.”
The book was adapted into the Netflix series in 2017, starring Dylan Minnette as Clay and Katherine Langford as Hannah. The show concluded in 2020 after four seasons.
“Thirteen Reasons Why” is the first book newly banned from all Utah public schools this school year, raising the total number of banned titles statewide to 19.
The title has appeared on school book ban lists across the country in recent years, and it ranked as the fifth most commonly banned book in the 2023-24 school year, according to PEN America, a nonprofit that advocates for protecting free expression.
Asher told PBS NewsHour that while some authors view book bans as a “badge of honor,” he’s not one of them.
(Ross D. Franklin | AP Photo) The book "Thirteen Reasons Why," by Jay Asher.
“If we say issues of teen suicide, drinking, sex or sexual assault are inappropriate, we’re telling teens who may identify with those themes that there isn’t a safe space for them,” Asher said in the 2017 interview.
The state released its initial list of banned titles in August 2024, in accordance with a law passed by the Utah Legislature last year. That law went into effect in July 2024.
The law requires that a book be removed from all public schools in the state if at least three school districts (or at least two school districts and five charter schools) determine it amounts to “objective sensitive material” — pornographic or otherwise indecent content, as defined by Utah code.
“Thirteen Reasons Why” was officially banned Thursday after the Nebo, Tooele County and Washington County school districts removed the title.
State officials typically do not cite the details of a book’s content when placing it on the banned list.