50 States Against Bullying: OHIO

Stop number seventeen on the 50 States Against Bullying campaign brought me to Ohio. The night before my school visit, I spoke at Cover to Cover, a children's book store. I found the absolute perfect spot to autograph their wall, which already overflowed with drawings and signatures. Since my son loves garbage trucks, I signed above the truck from one of his favorite books, I Stink!

It was freezing when I arrived at Hilliard Bradley High School. Being from the central coast of California where the weather hovers somewhere between nice and pretty nice, I thought the chill was fun! Sometimes I even took off my jacket for no reason other than just because, and people would look at me weird. But all I had to do was tell them I was from California and they seemed to understand.

The school's library windows were decorated with #ReasonsWhyYouMatter cards, and inside they displayed other books that dealt with bullying.

The hallways from the library to the front entrance were covered in posters either inspired by the issues in my book or the book itself. Here are color-coded names from the cassette tapes, each color representing characteristics explained in a separate paper.

Here's a description of the effects of bullying.

And here's an explanation of different types of bullying.

Thirteen Reasons Why is used in classrooms at this school, and one teacher showed me the book she uses for their discussions. One day I would love to sit in on a class as they dissected my book. It'd be so weird! And cool! And scary!

And here are the beautiful people I got to spend my day with.

As I drove to my next state, it began to snow. But not a lot. It looked more like the trucker in front of me had a horrendous case of dandruff and drove with his window down while he headbanged to the radio.

Well, like that...but less gross.

50 States Against Bullying: KENTUCKY

The sixteenth stop on my 50 States Against Bullying campaign brought me to Oldham County High School in Kentucky!

But since I arrived early, I first took a tour of the Louisville Slugger Museum & Factory. If you haven't been (and I can't believe how many locals haven't!), you should. They take you on a thirty minute walk through the factory where you watch spinning cylinders of wood shaped into bats. It really is fascinating! And the place smells good, too.

Unfortunately, they don't let you take photos inside the factory. But they will let you take a pic of the bat outside!

When I entered the high school, I immediately knew where to find the library. It was the room that had its windows covered with #ReasonsWhyYouMatter cards.

Inside the library, I was welcomed by...um...I can't remember this lady's name. So I'll just call her Annabelle! Annabelle changes her wardrobe throughout the year. Today, she wore a Thirteen Reasons Why t-shirt.

On the back, the t-shirt says...

(This isn't Annabelle. This is a very nice student.)

Before the students entered the auditorium, Colin Mayfield from WLKY interviewed me for the news. I hope they were only shooting me from the chest up, because from the chest down it looks like I'm trying out for Riverdance (the international Irish dancing phenomenon).

As the students arrived, the screen displayed several of the #ReasonsWhyYouMatter cards filled out by students.

And here they are!

(photo lovingly borrowed from school's Twitter feed)

Here I am with only some of the library aides who helped make sure this event ran without a hitch.

And yes, on the way to my next stop I grabbed a quick bite at KFC!

TeenReaderCon

I flew out of my little hometown airport...

...took a short layover in Chicago...

...on my way to the first annual TeenReaderCon in Clifton Park, NY.

I've attended a few YA conferences, where a community brings in several authors to discuss their books and writing, and these events are always the peak of fun as an author. Not only does it give me a chance to hang out with and meet my peers, but the audience is made up of rabid readers!

On the way to the auditorium, the halls were lined with floor-to-ceiling paintings reproducing classics by Van Gogh, Picasso, Monet, and many others. Plus, there was a beautiful piece made out of paper where the white letters turned into colorful butterflies that flew off onto the wall.

The first presentation was by Coach Rich Johns, giving his "Act with Respect Always" talk, which I've heard about for years and is beautifully inspiring. As part of his presentation, he discusses Thirteen Reasons Why and recites my character's poem, Soul Alone.

Here I am with the awesome dude!

Then all of the authors took the stage for our introductions and to answer some Q & A.

I had never been on a panel with any of these authors before, but would do it again in a second. Such a fun, smart group of people! (I'm so thankful they let me join them.)

Steve Sheinkin, Patricia McCormick, Jackie Morse Kessler,

Eric Devine, Joseph Bruchac, and me

Here's the happy bunch with photographer Marisa Geraghty. She'd been taking pics throughout the conference, so they finally made her get into one of them!

Of course, when I called home to describe the event, my son was most impressed by the excavator I passed while talking to him.

50 States Against Bullying: NEW HAMPSHIRE

Stop number fifteen on the 50 States Against Bullying campaign brought me to New Hampshire. It's my last stop before I head back to California for about a week, so I spent extra time taking detours to enjoy the surroundings.

Here's a river I passed on my way to ConVal High School. It's places like this that allow ConVal to have a bass fishing team. Bass fishing! I don't fish, but even I think that's cool.

This cemetery looks creepily beautiful surrounded by these trees. About a dozen times, people told me, "You should've been here last week when the trees were Peak Color." Yes, Peak Color is a thing! If I was buried in this setting, I'd have to dig my way out of my grave each fall to see the trees. I bet New England zombies even have a saying about that: When it's fall, you just have to get back up again.

Approaching the school entrance, I saw the Thirteen Reasons Why display through the windows. Surrounding the doors were many #ReasonsWhyYouMatter cards already filled out.

Here are all the people I spoke to in the gym, although in this picture I'm first being photographed by two students.

After I spoke, the principal led them in a chorus of "Thank you, Jay Asher!" So, of course, I had to record that.

Then I spoke to a group of leadership students in the theater, where I answered many questions. This was followed by lunch! When I was in high school, I think I ate cafeteria food once. Not because it was bad, I just either brought mine from home or went to the window where they sold Subway sandwiches ("Spicy Italian, please."). So whenever schools ask if I'd like to eat food from the cafeteria, I always say yes because...it's fun!

I chose to eat at the table where students were filling out #ReasonsWhyYouMatter cards. After writing their message, they got a Halloween candy and a tour wristband. For example, take it away, Anthony...

It was then time to speak to two different sessions of English students who've all read the book. But the soup I ate at lunch included tiny floating green things (not onions, which I'm sure of because they weren't gross), so I checked my teeth for green things before I spoke.

Walking to the room where I'd meet the students, I spotted this wall design. Since it reminded me of Charlie Brown, I had to take its picture, of course.

When you get to spend hours speaking to students who've all read your book, you get asked some very insightful questions. We discussed Hannah's reactions to situations, metaphors that I may or may not have intentionally put in the story (it could be that I just don't remember, but I don't think they were), and so much more.

On second thought, I take that back. It sounds much smarter to say all of those metaphors were intentional. And they were. They totally were!

50 States Against Bullying: MASSACHUSETTS

The fourteenth stop on my 50 States Against Bullying campaign brought me to Massachusetts. Whenever I travel to a big city, it takes me a while to gain enough courage to step onto buses and the subway. But once I get the courage, it's kind of fun!

I took a bus, and then the subway, to Ottoson Middle School. Like most of the schools I've visited in New England, it was surrounded by beautiful trees. But I really loved the way these pipes covered this school sign with steam, so that's my pic to represent this Ottoson! (Sorry.)

Sometimes I worry about maintaining the attention of hundreds of people sitting on a hard gym floor, but these students were awesome. And there were so many great questions at the end, I could've stayed and chatted with them for the rest of the day.

But I had to do an interview for the student news, and they also had some great questions.

And I obviously gave some really ridiculous answers!

50 States Against Bullying: PENNSYLVANIA

As you can guess, I consider 13 to be a very lucky number. So it was of little surprise when a whole lot of awesomeness surrounded my thirteenth stop on the 50 States Against Bullying campaign in Pennsylvania.

It began with some presentations at Sewickley Academy, just outside of Pittsburgh.

If there's one thing I will visually remember from my stops on the East Coast this autumn, it's the stunningly colorful trees everywhere I turn. And I was told this year was unusually lacking in color.

I gave two presentations to the students, and had two more gatherings that were more like free flowing discussions. First I met with student leaders, in groups like ASB and Peer Counseling. We discussed leadership and mentoring, and I had the chance to get into (based on a beautiful question) another aspect of bullying not often considered, yet crucial: forgiveness. Then I met with faculty leaders at the school, which was an opportunity I don't often get. But it was so inspiring!

Then I took a drive through the area for a very personal reason. My mom spent her childhood in the Pittsburgh region. As I drove, memories of black and white photos I've seen, Eastern European characteristics on so many people walking by, and stories I've heard from my mom and my extended family made the entire drive feel so familiar.

I even found the house in West Mifflin where she lived in from grades one through six.

That evening, my friend (and author) Stephen Chbosky took me on another tour of the city, which is where he also spent many important years. He doesn't live here now, but we were both speaking at the same conference this weekend. Stephen, as you should all know, wrote The Perks of Being a Wallflower, and also wrote and directed the movie based on the book. Some pivotal scenes occur while the characters driving through the Fort Pitt Tunnel. They have special songs they listen to while sitting or standing in the vehicle, which continues as they exit into a beautiful view of the city at night. Stephen drove me through the tunnel a few times. Once, I listened to my Tunnel Song, Larry, by Buffalo Tom. Another time...just the sounds around us.

That was followed by my virgin experience at a Rocky Horror Picture Show production. My experience happened in the same theater where Stephen lost his RHPS virginity, which is also where he shot some scenes for his movie.

This has made him the Patron Saint of the Hollywood Theater!

(That's Stephen in the middle, pulled from his seat
for the wedding photo.)

Yes, the number 13, and Pennsylvania, has been very good to me.

Thank you, Stephen.

50 States Against Bullying: MARYLAND

The twelfth stop on my 50 States Against Bullying campaign brought me to Maryland. I was starving after the train ride, so I found a place online advertising the world's largest slice of pizza, to which I said, "Ha! We'll see about that." I punched the address into my GPS, which led me into a park late at night. With no lights. And lots of trees. And dirt instead of paved paths. And it was sprinkling so the dirt was mud. And did I tell you it was dark?

So I got muddy.

But I also got pizza!

And yes, it was a humongous slice of pizza. But I was hungry, so once they handed it over I devoured it. So I'm sorry for the lack of a pic, but my greasy fingers probably would've destroyed my phone anyway.

The next day, I spoke at Gilman, my first all boys school.

The students had begun filling out their #ReasonsWhyYouMatter cards and posting them in the hall.

My usual presentation lasts 40-45 minutes. At Gilman, the schedule required me to cut it down to 25, which involved a late night of strategizing and math work. But more than that, it required a lot of guess work because I never know how fast I'm going to talk or how much I'll be able to hold back the rambling.

But it went well! (The shot above is of the boys listening to school announcements. They looked a bit more lively in a few minutes.) Throughout the rest of my day, students came up to tell me they really enjoyed my talk. Yes, these dudes are all sorts of polite.

And then they streamed into the library over the next few periods to get their books signed.

Before I left, I participated in one of my favorite Q&A sessions with members of the Gay-Straight Alliance. (I didn't realize that's what it was until I started answering questions. I just knew I was going to speak to GSA later in the day. GSA? Sounds cool!) The questions were wide-ranging, but allowed me to open up about a topic that I know touches many of the readers I've met over the years.

Oh, I also ran into Sean Astin from Goonies (and a whole bunch of other movies, but none as important as that) in the hallway outside of my hotel room. I didn't have my phone on me, so I didn't get a pic, and I'm still so upset about that. And that's why I'm posting this really small. But he did say, "Howdy," to me!!!