Jay Asher, author of Thirteen Reasons Why, the longtime bestseller (with currently 2.3 million copies in print) that confronts the topics of teen suicide and bullying, took the book, and his message #ReasonsWhyYouMatter, on the road. Starting in October 2014 (National Bullying Prevention Month), and wrapping up this month Asher made stops in all 50 U.S. states on his “50 States Against Bullying” tour, to meet with high school students and discuss bullying and suicide in an open, honest, and direct way. Asher’s eight-month tour covered 50,000 miles, and he met 30,000 students. Asher recapped every state on his blog as well. See photo highlights from the tour below.
Jay Asher takes the stage at the O’Neal School in Southern Pines, N.C.
Asher (l.) at his alma mater, San Luis Obispo High School in San Luis Obispo, Calif., with Jennifer Sawyer, the school’s library media tech.
Asher took a photo of the audience at Grant High School in Portland, Ore., saying: "Many of [the students] take classes that use Thirteen Reasons Why in the curriculum. One of the teachers has been using it since its release in 2007.”
Flying to all 50 states was sure to include some adventures. Here, Asher was the only passenger on a flight to rural South Dakota after missing his original connection.
Asher signed books for customers at Barnes & Noble in Fayetteville, Ark., where more than 100 people from the community came to hear Jay speak – including 40 members of a book club who traveled from 40 miles away. Additionally, some fans traveled more than three hours for the event.
Asher on his penultimate stop of the tour, in Anchorage, Alaska.
The tour concluded in Honolulu, where Asher participated in the Hawaii Book & Music Festival.
Along each stop on the tour, students were given notecards, and encouraged to write their own comments and share them on social media under #ReasonsWhyYouMatter.
