Wednesday, March 21, 2012

Spread the Hope


My visit to West Genesse High School in Camillus, NY was a beautiful experience. Exhausting! But beautiful.

I was brought in by the West Genesee Anti-Bullying Task Force and spoke to six groups of students during the schoolday, which may be my record for the most number of presentations in a day.


I've never been at a school where so many students told me how much they feel supported by the faculty at their school. Even students who said they were bullied knew there were faculty members they could speak with.

In the evening, I spoke in the auditorium to members of the community. And that definitely breaks my record for the most presentations in a day!

3 comments:

Mikala Thompson said...

Dear Jay,

This is going to sound desperate because I probably am, but that just shows how passionate I am about your book. My name is Mikala Thompson, and I have dreamed about turning 13 Reasons Why into a movie for about a year now. Only a few weeks ago did I finally get the opportunity to start the production. It is my favorite book of all time, and it helped me get out of a really dark place in my life.
But I'm rambling now.
I just saw that your book is currently being made into a movie starring Seleva Gomez. I just found out about twenty minutes ago. I'm trying not to cry as I write this because I need to hope for the best. My request is that you give me the permission to use your premise and characters so I can make my dream come true. I will literally give you as much of the profit (if we make any) as you please. I am so excited about doing this movie over the summer and I've already cast certain parts that I just can't give up so easily. Please, I know I can do your book justice. I'll do anything for the opportunity.

Thank you for reading,
Mikala Thompson

Jay Asher said...

Mikala, yes, Universal does own the movie rights to THIRTEEN REASONS WHY. But I am absolutely honored to hear your passion for my book. That means so much to me.

A lot of people have filmed versions of 13RW just for the experience, and as a way to have fun with friends. If that's the route you decide to take, I wish you the best!

Sparkles said...

I attended your talk at West Genesee High School last Tuesday... It's been almost 10 years since I graduated from there... Hard to believe how time flies! Anyways, you are such a great speaker! And I LOVE your books!

I enjoy reading all sorts of books, but I've always been drawn to young adult books. I work at a library and one day I just stumbled upon 13 Reasons Why... I remember thinking "Ooh this sounds interesting!" and it was a something different from everything else that is out there. Because I was traveling back and forth to college, I decided to listen to the audiobook and it was so powerful to actually hear "Hannah's voice."

Since then, I can't tell you how many people I have recommended 13 Reasons Why to. When I learned (I think sometime last summer) that The Future of Us was coming out, I immediately requested that our library director purchase it for the our library. She did and she actually read it before I did... We both rave about it!! Again, such an unique concept and Josh and Emma's story is just very touching.

So, I did want to ask... I completely forgot to bring my copies of 13 Reasons Why and The Future of Us to your talk last week, but I would still love to get them autographed. Is there any way I could send them to you to autograph them?? I would really appreciate it! Please let me know :)

Thanks again for coming to West Genesee!