Go Ask Alice (4-25-13)

 

Go ask Alice. (1998). New York, NY: Aladdin Paperbacks.

Genre: Presented as a Non-Fiction Diary (The origin of the book is sometimes challenged, and publishers have listed the book as fiction.)

Age: 12 and up (I would suggest an older audience due to the graphic nature of drug experiences, some sexual violence, and language.)

Summary: This real life diary chronicles the life of a struggling young teen as she faces the horrors of a life entangled with drugs. This diary will take the reader through the initial drug exposure of someone and the downward spiral that follows.

Reflection: The cover illustration is a prime example of the dark nature of this book and what it entails. The shadowed, half-hidden face is exemplary of what the main girl in the story becomes. Although this book could possibly be challenged by parents or teachers, it is a detailed account of the horrible life that drugs bring. This narrative writing tells a devastating and eye-opening story about a girl that gets caught up in drugs and her life spirals out of control as a consequence. The format is written chronologically as a diary in which the anonymous author tells about her daily happenings before drugs, while on them, and life after. The theme in this story is overwhelming and the editors even plainly noted the purpose of the book in the pages leading up to the diary’s beginning.

“Go Ask Alice” is based on the actual diary of a fifteen-year-old drug user. It is not a definitive statement on the middle-class, teenage drug world. It does not offer any solutions. It is, however, a highly personal and specific chronicle. As such, as hope it will provide insights into the increasingly complicated world in which we live.”

The reader may draw many conclusions from this story, but will almost definitely be outraged at the availability of drugs and angry at the amount of devastation to a person’s life caused by drugs.

I would recommend this book to any young adult, because I think that hearing a first-person account of how drugs can be so enticing and then ruin your life would be eye-opening for many teenagers.

I would ask the students to keep a diary as well about how they are feeling after certain sections of the book. I would also ask students to write questions they would like to ask the main girl in the story and what they would like to tell her. It would be a great way to let the students know about local resources to help people who are in trouble and battling with these same issues.