A lot of popular young adult literature these days deals with an imaginary dystopian, nightmarish world, where brave youth overcome overwhelming obstacles to triumph.

In contrast, author Jay Asher’s debut novel, "Th1rteen R3asons Why," deals with a harsh reality that many teens face today, a world where bullying and competitiveness become so overwhelming that they consider or even commit suicide.

"Th1rteen R3asons Why" was first published in 2007 and immediately started winning awards for young adult literature. After it was reissued in paperback in 2011 it spent nearly two years on the New York Times Bestseller list. It’s also been translated into several languages.

"I wasn’t an expert on (teen suicide), but just by writing about it as honestly as I knew how, teens responded to it," Asher said in a call from his home in San Luis Obispo, Calif., before coming here to make an appearance at the Hawai‘i Book & Music Festival.

In "Th1rteen R3asons Why," high school student Hannah Baker has committed suicide, but has left behind recordings detailing the events leading up to her death. The recordings, which in the book are revealed to a classmate who was her first crush, tell of being falsely accused of promiscuity, feeling guilt over witnessing and failing to stop a sexual assault, being victimized by jealousy and voyeurism, getting isolated from her peers and other demoralizing experiences.

Asher, who had written short humor stories for young adults but never a serious book, said he intended it as a "suspense novel, in the hopes that people who don’t normally like really serious issue books would still be compelled to read it. That’s why I decided to have all those twists in there."

Asher called his own high school experience growing up in San Luis Obispo as "boring" and "mellow." The book was in part based on a close relative of his who attempted suicide.

"That was years before I came up with the idea, so when I decided to write about it, it was definitely something I felt passionate about, and recognized that we need to talk about it," he said.

Asher spent three years working on the book while working on other projects. Though there had been several cases of teen suicide in the news, he didn’t feel the need to do additional research on the topic.

"The character just felt really strong to me right away, so I just came up with this idea that if it feels real to me now, I think my job is just to write it," he said. "Afterwards I did do research and I found she kind of naturally followed the path of someone who slowly loses hope — some things are big, some things are small, but they feel kind of added on to the things she’s dealing with."

Asher has since met up with child psychologists and therapists who have further confirmed the realism of his story. To him, that merely proves "we can all understand if we try to. Sometimes it’s just scary."

Hawaii is the last stop on Asher’s 50 States Against Bullying campaign, an effort launched by his publisher, Penguin Books. He has been meeting with students, teachers and parents, sharing reactions to his book and hearing them "open up" about their own stories.

"It’s amazing," he said. "Some of their issues are definitely heartbreaking as to why they connect with it, but the whole point is feeling understood, and when you present these issues in a way that’s acceptable, at the very least people will feel understood."