Go Ask Alice by Anonymous

1 - I can do better 2 - Jury's out 3 - Pretty darn good 4 - Splendiferous 5 - Awesometastic by 12 people | Log in to rate

Ranked #612 in Entertainment, #14,607 overall

Go Ask Alice by Anonymous is a story about a teenage girl written in the format of a diary. Not much is told to us about the setting but the culture seems late 60's and the girl has no name, so we'll call her 'Alice'. Lots of spoilers on this lens.

When we enter the story, Alice is a happy teenage girl but is moving to another town and starting a diary. Once she gets there she is no longer happy, as the kids in her new school are not what they seem. Invited to a party, she is tricked into taking LSD and so starts the long journey into Alice's drug addiction. Soon she runs away, is living on the streets in California where she is rapped and taken advantage of, falling further beneath the surface of drugs and the spaces between her entries lengthen.

Soon, however, she is back in her hometown trying to recover from her addiction and lifestyle but her past 'friends' have no intention of letting her go. When she goes to babysit a neighbor's child she finds that someone left nuts laced in LSD. Upon eating them Alice goes into a bad trip and flips out, a neighbor finds her and locks her in a closet where she hurts herself trying to claw out. After this she is placed in a mental institution where she somehow keeps entries to her diary still.

Alice is finally released from the institution but stops writing entries, her last one being considerable happy. But she dies a few weeks later of a drug overdose. Suicide or murder?

A Banned Book 

Controversy over Go Ask Alice by Anonymous

Go Ask Alice has been the subject of much criticism in the few decades since the was first published. With it's trip into the brain of an adolescent girl who finds herself trapped in a world of drugs and it's abusers, it takes readers into a world that shows the startling and frightening affects of drugs. 'Alice' finds herself tricked into LSD, then addicted, living on the streets, raped, taking part in sexual activity.

Go Ask Alice was forced upon many high school students in the 70's as a ploy to stop the rapid drug use in teenagers, and everyone. But now many people are outraged to find this book on their teens reading list, and even more shocked that some schools suggest the book for students as young as ten.

Bans started in the 1970's: Kalamazoo in 1974, Saginaw in 1975, and Eagle Pass and Trenton in 1977 through removal from local libraries. Other libraries in New York (1975), Utah (1979), and Florida (1982) required parental permission for a student to check out the book. Additional bans occurred in 1983 in Minnesota and Colorado, 1984 in Mississippi, and 1986 in Georgia and Michigan. Also, in 1993 in New Jersey and West Virginia, 1994 in Massachusetts, 1998 in Rhode Island, and 2003 in Maine.

The dispute over the book's authorship does not seem to have played any role in these censorship battles.

Thus, this book has made it's way to #23 on the American Library Association's list of 100 most frequently challenged books of the 1990s. The book was number 8 on the most challenged list in 2001 and up to number 6 in 2003.

POLL: Should Go Ask Alice be banned from Public Schools and Libraries? 

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Author Controversy 

Beatrice Sparks, you say?

When I first went to create this lens I was wholely under the impression that Go Ask Alice by Anonymous was truly by Anonymous. Since that moment I stumbled upon the Wikipedia article for Go Ask Alice that I learned it indeed had some authorship. Beatrice Sparks, a psychologist and Mormon youth counselor turned author, wrote at least part of this book. She holds the copyright as author but claims to have received the diary from the family of 'Alice' who was one of her patients.

Yet no one has ever stepped forward to claim 'Alice' as there own, unlike the other families whose children have become part of her novels. Regardless, Go Ask Alice is a good read to scare you from drug use. Which is exactly what Ms. Sparks intended by editing, writing, or whatever she did to it.

For more information see the links below

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POLL: After Reading 'Go Ask Alice', did you feel this was truly written by a teenager? 

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Purchase Go Ask Alice on Amazon.com 

Go Ask Alice

Go Ask Alice

by: Anonymous

in hardcover.

Amazon Price: $12.20 (as of 12/14/2009) Buy Now
Used Price: $2.95

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Go Ask Alice

Go Ask Alice

by: Anonymous

in paperback.

Amazon Price: (as of 12/14/2009) Buy Now
Used Price: $0.01

Go Ask Alice

Go Ask Alice

The Movie! Starring famous men like William Shatner, Andy Griffith, and Robert Carradine.

Amazon Price: $14.95 (as of 12/14/2009) Buy Now
Used Price: $25.94

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More Information 

Go Ask Alice on SparkNotes
A literature study guides for students.
Go Ask Alice on Wikipedia
More and more information!
Go Ask Alice on IMDb
Go Ask Alice the movie! Starring such notables as William Shatner, Andry Griffith, etc. etc.
Beatrice Sparks on Amazon
Beatrice Sparks, the supposed 'Editor', has other "true diary" books. Check them out on Amazon!
Beatrice Sparks on Wikipedia
Beatrice Sparks a biography and more on the lady.

Controversy 

Go Ask Alice on Snopes
Snopes, the Urban Legend website, currently classifies this 'diary' as false. However, it's my personal belief it has some basis in one of Sparks' patient's diaries.
"Curiouser and Curiouser": Fact, Fiction, and the Anonymous Author of Go Ask Alice
An article about who really authored the book!
A Case Against Go Ask Alice
Specific Location: A middle school in Tiverton, Rhode Island
Confronting Bodies: School Principal, the mother of a student
Date of Action: 1998

I found this randomly when trying to get more information links. It's a short summary of a case against the book being in public schools.
100 Most Frequently Challenged Books of the 1990's
Go Ask Alice is #23 on this list of Most Frequently Challenged Books by the American Library Association.

Excerpts, Reviews, etc. 

for Go Ask Alice

Go Ask Alice Excerpt
From TeenReads.com
A Short Review of Go Ask Alice
This review is by Brooke Stephens from New Zealand. Brooke Stephens wrote this review when 14 years old.
Go Ask Alice on eBook - PDF
For $4.29 you can download the PDF of Go Ask Alice.

Go Ask Alice on eBay 

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POLL: After Reading 'Go Ask Alice', how would you rate the book overall? 

Note: this is rating for the book itself, to rate this lens go to the top of the page.

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Visitor Board 

Thoughts? Suggestions? Reviews?

Share your opinions about the book, the "author", or this lens!

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  • Reply
    amber amber Jun 11, 2009 @ 11:57 pm
    Absolutely loved this book.
    I've never read such an amazing book.
  • Reply
    Rachael<3 Rachael<3 May 20, 2009 @ 9:59 pm
    I struggle when it comes to being entertained in a book and this is one book that i absolutely could not put down. I like Alice have been through many struggles with drug's and it really hit home when i read this. at point's in this book i laughed, I cried, and I related an awful bit. I would definitely suggest this book to any teen that has or is considering doing drugs. it will definitely make you think twice. As far as parent's wanting to ban this book i don't see why. this book/diary is a way to scare kids astray from Drugs. I am now 17 and you bet when I have kid's they will be reading this book.
  • Reply
    Sateana Sateana May 5, 2009 @ 1:28 pm
    If you hate this book plaese write on here
    its for class and I need your help
    so please write something bad about it
    thank you
    lol
  • Reply
    Olivia Olivia Apr 20, 2009 @ 11:26 pm
    I did enjoy this book. But come awn should you be letting your children read this at age 12 when they are the most prone to try things. The more you say no you can't the more they will go and do it anyways. Alice is advertising how great it is. Get real
  • Reply
    serendipitysmile serendipitysmile Apr 20, 2009 @ 4:03 pm
    Thanks for this lens. I am inspired to read the book now. I think I will share it with my teen aged nieces. 5*s
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I hope you enjoyed yourself! Shalom.

by Jennie.Harris

Jennie is a nineteen-year-old Christian from Louisiana. She currently attends a small community college over the border in Arkansas. (more)

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