Everyone who encounters go ask alice goes through the same four stages titillated horror, for the young reader, at the books dramatic depictions of drug use. In go ask alice, the diary is written by a teenage girl over a twoyear period and chronicles her experiences with. Turned out to be a thinly veiled anti drug propaganda book, no real alice, no diary. This is for my english class bannedbook week assignment. Find books like go ask alicejays journal from the worlds largest community of readers. Poignant and unflinchingly honest, her story is a tragedy that is repeated in towns and cities across the country. Like most teenagers, i was pretty taken with the book, go ask alice. Some commentators have noted that these books use writing styles similar to go ask alice and contain similar themes, such as tragic. Bookbanners like to take go ask alice out of libraries because they think, i assume, that it will teach their children to do drugs, have sex, and. In the 1970s, this fake diary scaredand temptedteenage. Years before james frey and the million little pieces scandal, there was go ask alice and the theories about who wrote the book.
Go ask alice is a 1971 fiction book about a teenage girl who develops a drug addiction at age. Go ask alice was the product of beatrice sparks, an author who has come out with a number of teens who saw their lives ruined by their bad choices offerings, each one presented as a true. The diary begins right before alices fifteenth birthday. But she just cant resist the way the drugs make her feelbeautiful and popular and connected to the world around her. Read another book that deals with teenagers and drugs, such as crank by ellen hopkins and smack by melvin burgess. Books similar to go ask alice meet your next favorite book.
Find books like go ask alicejay s journal from the worlds largest community of readers. Go ask alice is a fiction work written anonymously and first published in 1971. Every time after she uses, she feels guilty and low and vows to stay away. If you like go ask alice you might like similar books crank, cut, identical, impulse, aimee. But those of you old enough to remember the latter portion of the 70s might remember that beatrice sparks, the editor of go ask alice, also edited a bunch of other alarmist books aimed at teens, all supposedly taken from teenagers diaries. My name is roxanne sancto and ill be writing all things music, book and movie related for itcher mag. Go ask alice by beatrice sparks is an epistolary work, meaning that is structured as a series of entries such as letters or in this case, a diary. Only publishers weekly threw shade, remarking that it. This story follows the typical template for the say no to drugs genre of liturature. Books similar to go ask alicejays journal goodreads.
This is my second read of go ask alice, and i loved it just as much the second time around im an advocate for banned stories that teach. I thought it is the strongest book ive read, and thats saying a lot since. It graphically describes the waking hell into which the main character descends, her heartfelt but futile battles to return home and stay clean, her pleas to god to save her, her trust and love for her family, and her ultimate failure. I think you mean go ask alice by anonymous aka beatrice sparks, but anywho.
While the rest of her family adjusts to the new town, alice feels like an outcast at school. Like every teenager, ive always wondered what it would be like trying drugs. Go ask alice is the firstperson tale of an accidental downward spiral into drugs, alcohol, unwanted sex, and impoverished living. Go ask alice has been around for decades, and is even being used as reading material in high schools. Read a plot overview of the entire book or a chapter by chapter summary and analysis. D espite the popularity of go ask alice, the mystery of the diarists identity has never been truly solved, and none of her relatives have ever come forward to claim a share of the royalties. Go ask alice was published anonymously in 1971, but in the last two decades, it still lives in the top 25 most frequently banned books, according to the american library association. The book was purported to be the real journal of a 15yearold girl who was the alice of the title. Ellen hopkinss semiautobiographical verse novel, crank, reads like a go ask alice for the 21st century. In it, she chronicles the turbulent and often disturbing relationship between kristina, a. Goodreads members who liked go ask alicejays journal also lik. Go ask alice teaches you what can happen when you get into drugs and its hard to stay away from them once you have started and know how easy it is to get ahold of them. It was reported as unsold and destroyed to the publisher and neither the author nor the publisher has received any payment for this stripped book.
The book and especially the ending shows the harsh reality of drugs and addiction in teenagers. Go ask alice is a 1971 fiction book about a teenage girl who develops a drug addiction at age 15 and runs away from home on a journey of selfdestructive escapism. I got yelled at, at school because i would read it instead of doing schoolwork. Like a blink of an eye the main character turns towards drugs, sex, and running away. Alice acted like she was sick, so she didnt had to go to school. With william shatner, ruth roman, wendell burton, julie adams. Attributed to anonymous, the book is in diary form, and was originally presented as being the edited real diary of the unnamed teenage protagonist. Goodreads members who liked go ask alicejay s journal also lik. As powerfuland as timelytoday as ever, go ask alice remains the definitive book on the horrors of addiction. Through out the history of film, many productions have been made based on best selling novels. Go ask alice by anonymous if you purchased this book without a cover you should be aware that this book is stolen property.
A 15yearold girl in late1960s america is sucked into an odyssey of sex and drugs and eventually seeks help. Though go ask alice is a classic, its not a good book. The story starts off like any other book, with a normal day and a normal family. The book that defined my teen anxiety turned out to be a lie. A book report on go ask alice english literature essay. The phrase had a note of nostalgia to it, as if id overheard it somewhere. I highly recommend this book to anyone who like to read books that make you never want to put the book away. Go ask alice is still awash in controversy, 43 years. These books are often removed from schools or public library shelves. Go ask alice book by anonymous official publisher page. The go ask alice community note includes chapterbychapter summary and analysis, character list, theme list, historical context, author biography.
The book is written in diary form, but the author is anonymous. Stream go ask alice unabridged audiobook at by user1868941 from desktop or your mobile device. Alices father, a college professor, accepts a teaching position at a different college and the family will move at the start of the new year, which cheers alice up. Novel versus the movie adaption of go ask alice essay.
It graphically describes the waking hell into which the main character descends, her heartfelt but futile battles to return home and stay. Some people maintain that alice in wonderland can only have been written by an author with considerable hallucinogenic mushroom experience under their belt. Only parents can decide if they want their children to read go ask alice. Then write an essay comparing and contrasting the book to go ask alice. She is a pretty typical teenage girl in the late 1960sshes mostly concerned with school, boys, her hair, and fitting in okay, thats pretty typical for any decade when her fathers new job causes her family to move across the country, alice is thrust into a new school at a time when she is at best.
Go ask alice is still awash in controversy, 43 years after publication. See a complete list of the characters in go ask alice and indepth analyses of alice, diary, parents, and joel. An award winning novel by the name of go ask alice did that. Returning to it as an adult feels a bit like youre taking part in a piece of pop culture in. So much so, that my inability to put it down resulted in me skipping class to read in the library.
Go ask alice is based on a true story about a teenager who becomes addicted to drugs. I dont remember much about it, but its another fake propaganda book, this time about teen suicide. See more ideas about books, books to read, book worth reading. Books like the harry potter series, go ask alice, or the.
Reading go ask alicethe socalled real diary, first published in 1971, of an anonymous girl who took drugs and diedis an experience so widely shared that theres little point personalizing it. Go ask alice is a reference to a jefferson airplane song called white rabbit, which alludes to rampant hallucinogenic drug use in lewis carrolls alice in wonderland. Go ask alice by anonymous about the book she doesnt want to get hooked on drugs. Girl by blake nelson written like a diary of a true 16 year old girl even though it written by a man, also made into a movie fat kid rules the world by k. Books like the harry potter series, go ask alice, or the hunger games series are all on the banned book list. For thirtyfive years, the acclaimed, bestselling firstperson account of a teenage girls harrowing decent into the nightmarish world of drugs has left an indelible mark on generations of teen readers. When i called my friend kelly to discuss my revelations about go ask alicekelly is the selfdeprecating friend i rely on to temper my personal humiliations with her reliably more outrageous gaffesshe wanted to know if i was joking. Based on a 15yearolds diary, go ask alice is the intimate account of one girls fatal journey into the world of drug addiction. I loved it because it had real problems that teens go through everyday and everywhere. When it comes to this made for tv adaptation, i paused it exactly 4 times and its only 74 minutes long. If you do like it, there is another book called jays journal that is very similar. Heres where youll find analysis about the book as a whole. On a normal day in alices world, she decides to buy a journal to write in it every week to record her. Find books like go ask alice from the worlds largest community of readers.
Go ask alice is a supposed diary of a young girl caught up in the wild life of drug abuse in the late 1960s. In it, she chronicles the turbulent and often disturbing relationship between kristina, a more. It may be reproduced in its entirety or excerpted for these. Goodreads members who liked go ask alice also liked.
At the 16th of june, alices grandmother died in her sleep. Chances are, you have once read and maybe even declared a banned book your favorite book. Questions about the books authenticity and true authorship began to arise in the late 1970s, and it is now generally viewed as a found manuscript styled fictional work written by beat. Joel gave her alice a lot of strength and offered her to go to the funeral.