Featured Author: Jay Asher
By: Megan Botzenhart
You may all know the amazing story of Hannah Baker in Thirteen Reason Why and the great novel The future of Us, both written by this featured author Jay Asher. Both books have a very different style of writing to them. They have a way of writing that attracts the teen age group to them and makes them very interesting to read.
Normal Life Just Like Anybody
Asher has lived practically his whole life in the state of California. He was born September 30, 1975 in Arcadia, CA. He grew up in a very average American family with a mother, father and one younger brother named Nate. Asher graduated in 1993 from San Luis Obispo High School and later went on to community collage for several years. He started out having many jobs working in different bookstores and libraries but they were no jobs out of the ordinary that got him famous for his writing right away. Now he writes books and travels around the country talking about them, Asher says that his “job” tends to be more fun to him then seeming like actual work. In 2002 he got married to his wife Joanmarie and he has one son Isaiah Nathan. As you can see Jay Asher has lived a pretty normal life just like anyone else and had to work to get to the place he is right now.
Exciting New News
Ashers first novel, Thirteen Reasons Why, came out in 2007 and has become very famous to the teenage group of people. This very interesting story has one multiple awards over the years. The biggest has to be New York Times Bestseller in 2011 followed by Publishers Weekly bestseller, California Book Award Winner, Best Books for Young Adults, and Quick Picks for Reluctant YA Readers just to name only a few of the many awards this book has received. A paperback version came out in 2011 and new, exciting things keep continuing. It has been told that there is going to be a movie made out of the story staring Selena Gomez ,but the release date is still is still to be determined. This news is very exciting to many because they will now be able to see their favorite book on the big screen.
Modern Feel
I think that both of Ahsers books have a very modern and future like feel to them and this is probably why he attracts the young adult age group. Thirteen Reason Why tends to deal with a struggle many teens go through, suicide. The Future of Us has a futuristic story line that many teens are interested in. He also has a blog that he updates on a regular basis to keep all his fans and readers updated on his life, new story ideas, and other news. Ahsers novel Thirteen Reasons Why also has its own website to where many interesting details about the book are kept. You are able to view the actual map talked about in the book and really get involved with the book its self. You are able to listen to all the tapes and read about the book and events involving the book.
Jay Asher is a newer author with much excitement in his stories. His modern feel keeps young adults interested in his works and keeps them wanting to read more and more of his books and keeps him a major featured author. This great authors writing not only inspires people to read more great authors, but to produce our own great writings.
References:
