Go Ask Alice

Told in diary entries by an unnamed girl (which for purposes of this review we shall call "Alice"), it chronicles her life and her struggle with her addiction to drugs.

Now I'm obviously reading this many years after its original publication of 1971. And from what I've read, it seems that originally

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it was thought to be a real-life diary. Beatrice Sparks who was originally editor, eventually stated that this was one of her patient's diary and she used several of the passages in it to create the book. But it seems that since then much of that has also been questioned and they are now selling it with an inscription in the first pages stating that this is a complete work of fiction and not to be thought otherwise.

With that said, whether you believe Go Ask Alice is non-fiction or fiction, or even anti-drug propaganda, it should not make a difference on whether or not you read this book. It is, what it is - a story about a young girl living in the mid to late 60's who gets seduced into the world of drugs. Her diary entries detail her first encounter at a party, becoming an addict, selling drugs at school , running away, rape, more drugs and eventually using sex to acquire even more drugs. So what if it's not a true story. I'm sure this can easily be someone's "true" story.

My only concern is that it feels outdated. I think as a whole parents today have learned from "our" parents' mistakes. I think we know the signs of drug use and what changes to look for in our children. I also don't really know overly much about drugs - so I can't say for sure that Alice's addiction and the speed in which it all transpires is credible.

I'm not sure if it's still banned in schools, but I know at one point the book was pulled off the shelves and, in the cases where it wasn't, they removed some of the more graphic parts in the book. After reading Go Ask Alice, I can say that I would definitely let my kids (obviously when they are tweens, since they are both toddlers at the moment) read this. If for no other reason than to have them open up and talk about drugs. I know and am hopeful that by reading something like this they might remember that while at a party they should never drink from a cup they themselves didn't pour or even that "I'll just try it once" can be life altering.

All in all, I found it to be an interesting book, even if it is untrue.

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Beware: this book is anti-drug propaganda written by an adult, not the diary of an anonymous teen as the book makes claim to be!

This book is allegedly the true diary of a teenage drug users in the 1970s. I read this book as a pre-teen and again as an adult. Both times I was captivated by this book, but for different reasons. As a pre-teen I was fascinated by the way the book described drugs as both wonderful and terrifying

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at the same time. Growing up, I was often told that drugs were “bad,” but there was never a reason given as to why they should be avoided, or why anyone would ever try them in the first place. This book provided an answer to both questions. As an adult reader, I recognize it's not likely a “real” diary. Editions published after the 1980s usually list the book as fiction. The book's editor (and some say full author) say the book is based on actual diaries of her patients. I still find the book very insightful and perhaps even more disturbing than I did as pre-teen. There is a tremendous hopelessness in the book and the sense that addiction can never be overcome. So deep is the despair that I would hesitate giving this book to someone who is battling a current addiction. Some reviews claim that this book is anti-drug propaganda and I disagree. While it's true that some terrible things happen to Alice while on drugs, she has some wonderful experiences as well.

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This isn't a real diary. It gets two stars for turning out to be a big fat liar that was only moderately enjoyable to begin with.

I have always really liked this book. I don't care if it's a real account or not... I think it's a raw, sometimes painfully honest account of what it feels like to grow up in a world you don't feel you belong to, and the things you do along the way to try to feel like you do. I read this for this

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first time about 10 years ago when I was the same age as the protaganist, and have also read it since becoming an adult. Even now it resonates with me. 'Alice' is lost and naive, and invariably uses drugs as an inroad to connect with her peers and make friends. It's not long before she's going to these parties just for the party favors and new 'experiences'. She carries on almost a love affair with the different drugs, displaying clearly a love-hate relationship with them. They make her feel wonderful and free and connected. They make her feel rotten and empty and detached from society more than ever. I think the sometimes romanticizing of her addiction, and the drugs, is eerily accurate of todays youth. So many people are fascinated by the allure of drugs, thinking they will take them to this glamourous, other-wordly place, but they are so obsessed with the instant gratification that they cease to think about the consequences. The aftermath- the addiction factor, the potentially life-wrecking 'side effects', etc. Go Ask Alice explores all of this very honestly, and if it's not a real account, it reads like one.

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When I was a teenager, I read this book (along with some of the others that were written by Beatrice Sparks). I thought, at the time, that it was a pretty good book. I’ve since come to realize how absolutely ridiculous it is. The book is pretty much solely focused on the narrator’s drug use,

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which is pretty unbelievable given the age that the narrator is supposed to be. It is almost like the tales of monsters that were meant to scare kids into acting properly hundreds of years ago, except that it’s a more contemporary version—the monsters are turned into addiction, drugs, and drug users.

I think the book *might* be okay if you go into it knowing that it isn’t real, and that it’s basically a very long anti-drug pamphlet.

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An upsetting, yet awesome book about a teenage girl who is accidentally thrown into the horrible world of drug addiction. The book is the girl's diary (i believe it's during the 70's but i cannot be sure). Because i want to become a psychiatrist, this book really helped me to get into the head of a

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teenage girl as she started from a high position in her life, and traveled through a tragic plumet, until the drug lifestyle eventually overcame her.
It is really a sad novel but i was interested the entire time. During my time reading this, though, i just wanted to shake the girl and tell her that everything would be alright if she just learned to shape up and get back onto the right track. Like watching a train wreck and knowing that there was nothing you could do about it. A very gripping novel. I was deeply fascinated by the events and suffering and obstacles that this girl had to face.

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"Go Ask Alice" is a startling frank and disturbing glimpse into the mind of a teenager as she spirals further down into drug addiction and prostitution. What is, perhaps, most disturbing is how easily she slipped through the cracks. While it stands that one may question the veracity of these "true"

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journals, it is heart-breaking and ultimately frightening to see the the teenager struggle, recover, and struggle yet again.

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Presented as a real diary written by an unnamed 15 year old drug user, Go Ask Alice follows the life of a middle class suburban teenager for a year and a half as she begins to experiment with and later becomes addicted to drugs. The narrator eventually runs away from home only to end up living a

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drug addicted life on the streets; stealing and prostituting herself, preyed upon by men and other young addicts, alternately sick from grief and withdrawal, she eventually returns home and is faced with all the difficulties of getting and staying clean, as well as re-entering the cruel and unforgiving social world of her old high school. It all takes place against the backdrop of all the usual teenage life situations: popularity, body image, romance, fitting in, parent problems, school issues, etc. The story is presented in the first person through the diary entries that, presumably, we were never meant to read. Okay, it’s dated. (“The fuzz has clamped down until the town is mother dry”p.96-97).) But the story is still frighteningly believable and the dramatic ending, a notice that after the last, hope filled, diary entry the girl was found dead from a drug overdose, leaves open the question of whether “Alice’s” OD was intentional or not. 09/06

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Heartbreaking tale of drug addiction, the ruination of a beautiful, young girl's life, as told in her own words through a diary describing her fears, desires, drug induced trips and subsequent descent into hell. A difficult read for anyone ever trapped in the evilness of substance abuse.

i really liked this book because it was a true story. it really got into detail about everything and let you know what drugs can do to you and how they can efffect you and mess up your life. it was really sad because she ends up dying . i think that this book was beyond amazing and i think every

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teen should read it because it has a really good purpose to it.

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man, my copy of this has been read so many times that the entire cover is pretty much made out of duct tape. i love this book. the feelings are sewn in with each word. i cant get enough. great freshman year of high school book. i read it in like 6th grade?

Wow is pretty much all I can say. Whata terrible and crazy ride for someone to haveto endure!! This book is pretty old too, isnt it? Like, 30 years? But she was doing so well!!! I wish she had continued to write....

Read this back in high school, what an amazing book, really makes you think about life.

~Just remember that this book is a work of fiction.~ One of my employees introduced this book to me. After reading parts of her copy, I went and bought my own. This has to be one of the most heartfelt accounts of an addict. This young girl was caught up in a world of drugs and did not know how to

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begin to get her life straight. The end of the memoir leaves you feeling lost. Definately a book to re-read, and give to everyone as a warning of the dangers of drugs and how easy it is to get caught up in the high.

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famous journal of one teen's descent into drugs and sex , nothing is edited and nothing is sugar-coated, mature but essential

This book was such a powerful read for me when I was younger, I was so shocked when I found out it was a fraud!

An amazing book that portrays a young girl's experience with drug use. It's thoroughly engrossing and the issues the narrator bring up are still relevant to middle and high schoolers today. Though the book occasionally reveals itself to be dated the language and the issues it addresses are still

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relatable.
I think this would be a great book for both middle and high schoolers to discuss amongst themselves as well as with their parents.

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I read it as a kid, when I was in elementary school. My mom didn't think it was appropriate reading, so I took it back and checked it out the next day, and hid it from her.
It's depressing-I doubt it's true, because it reads like something an ABC "Afterschool Special" used for an anti-drug warning

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movie.

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I found this book much more intriguing when I read it first in college, at that time I took it at face-value - a "actual diary of a fifteen-year-old drug user." On critical re-read later in life the inconsistancies are more apparent - it seems to string together events that MAY have happened to

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various people at various points in time and been re-interpreted by the author to present a "shocking" tale. Included in my library now as an example of 1970s anti-drug propaganda for the influences it has had over the decades.

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"Go Ask Alice" is a ture story of a young mislead teenager who gets swept into a life of drugs. Her addiction to numerous drugs gets deeper and stronger, all because of a trick. She was never a "popular" girl, and one day she was invited to a popular girls's party. There, LSD was slipped into her

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drink and ever since then, she had a mindset for expirimentation with other drugs. You can hardly believe the things she encounters, the struggles she endures, and the events that take place throughout her life. Thankfully, for us, she write in her journal. It is one of the most treasured materials in her life, and she shares everything in it. Now, it is a bublished book.

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Go ask Alice is a book which has made a debate for years. Young readers want this book to be real, but I happen to agree with those saying it is a work of fiction.

This diary belongs to a girl. She has no real name and the name Alice is given due to mention of it in the book.

It is 1970`S a decade

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filled with Woodstock, Janis Joplin and a liberal way to raise kids.

The diaries owner starts her drug-abuse at a gathering where she is given acid without knowing.

It is written in a form which suggest that an adult is the diary owner. It feels so unreal compared to "Christiane F" I think that by reading the german book as well, we the readers will see that the way Alice life`s turns from one day to the next is not real.

The great thing about it is that the book does not portrait drugs as cool and because of that young people should might read it and when they are older they can ask Christiane F through her book because that book is sadly real.

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I really enjoyed reading the book Go Ask Alice. I recommend all teens to read this book because it really helps you realize how drugs can really affect your life. The book keeps you interested because it is based on a true story which is what I really liked. An anonymous girl who tries to turn her

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life around after dealing with drug abuse which becomes very interesting to see how hard it was for her to change. I like this book because it could really help someone realize that drugs could change your whole life and it’s never too late to try and turn your life around.

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A 15 year old girl, unpopular and self-conscious, gets swept into a nightmare of drug addiction after being slipped LSD at a party. Told in diary form and said to be based on a real teenager's diary, the story is absorbing and tragic. Try as she might to get clean, she cannot escape the lure of

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drugs and the pressures of society -- with fatal consequences. While many of the feelings depicted in this story ring true, the narrator's downward spiral is often hard to believe. Part of this has to do with how incredibly dated the diary is. 60s and 70s slang, descriptions of hippie clothes, and repeated mentions of fighting "the man" and "the establishment" might make this hard for young readers to relate to or take seriously. It's also hard to know what to take away from this story. On the one hand, a single experimentation with drugs is a one-way ticket to addiction and death. On the other, this book contains some of the most detailed and glorified descriptions of the effects of drugs that I have ever heard. Christina Moore's narration of this audiobook is listenable, but uninspiring. While I know that this diary is something of a classic, I am confident that there are better, more recent books that deal with drug experimentation and addiction.

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