Module 15: Go Ask Alice

Book Summary

This book is based on a collection of diary entries written by an anonymous teen drug addict.  It begins with "anonymous" attending a party and drinking a soda which is -unknown to her- laced with LSD.  She quickly becomes an addict and her life spins out of control.  She runs away from home at least twice, participates in risky behaviors, and even ends up in an institution. 

APA Reference

Go ask Alice.  (1971).  New York, NY:  Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers.

Impressions

Having never been in the presence of someone on drugs, there was a lot of new information and insight for me in this book.  It is shocking that teens can be turned on to drugs so unintentionally.  Although this book is reportedly based on true events taken from an individual's diary, much of it feels fictionalized to me.  (The copyright material even includes the phrase "This book is a work of fiction").  Some of "anonymous's" thoughts seem very unintelligent, unrealistic, and immature for her age.  For example, at one point she is sure she is in love with a guy and he is in love with her, yet he only wants to see her once a week and she doesn't suspect anything strange about this... I found myself asking "how stupid can you be?" 

The anonymous writer depicts her experiences with drugs as both wonderful and frighteningly horrible.  With this in mind, hopefully impressionable young readers are more disgusted by the events in this book than intrigued or made to be curious by them.  Although insightful, I did not enjoy this book at all.  It is very sad and quite depressing.  I would much rather read something fun and uplifting.

Professional Review

Alice is your typical teenaged girl. She worries that she is too fat. She wants a boyfriend: "I wish I were popular and beautiful and wealthy and talented." She frequently makes resolutions in her diary to do better in school, work toward a calmer relationship with her mother, and lose weight. Her life changes when she goes to a party and is given acid in her drink. She loves the feeling the drug gives her: "Closed my eyes and the music began to absorb me physically. I could smell it and touch it and feel it as well as hear it." She wants more and quickly becomes a part of the drug scene. For about a year and a half Alice goes on and off drugs and runs away from home twice. Each time she manages to find her way back to her parents. They take her in, get her help, and all seems to be rosy until Alice is once again given acid without her knowledge. This time, she has a bad trip, ends up in the hospital, and then a mental hospital. Her parents stick by her, but her life of drug abuse ultimately ends with a fatal overdose—whether it is intentional or accidental is not known. Go Ask Alice has become a classic story of warning against the use of drugs. For the teen scene of 2006, this story will appear as slightly dated. The issues of relationships both in and out of school have not changed much in the last thirty years, but there are subtle differences in the culture that may prove distracting for a young person reading this book today. The basic story remains a chilling cautionary tale. 2005 (orig. 1971), Simon Pulse/Simon & Schuster, , and Ages 14 to 18.

Smith-D'Arezzo, W. (n.d.).  [Review of the book Go ask Alice -Anonymous].  Children's Literature.  Retrieved from http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/go-ask-alice-anonymous/1100300729#product-commentary-editorial-review-1.

Library Use

Have students choose a character from the book who was impacted by the main character's actions (one of her parents, grandparents, or siblings).  Write a one-page diary entry from that person's point of view.


Book cover image from:  http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/46799.Go_Ask_Alice.