Beatrice sparks, quote from go ask alice its a good thing most people bleed on the inside or this would be a gory, bloodsmeared earth. This is my second read of go ask alice, and i loved it just as much the second time around. It was a brave decision on her part, but the text always stayed with me. Free download or read online go ask alice pdf epub book. Go ask alice is still awash in controversy, 43 years. 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. Maybe its no coincidence that ive always been drawn to novels with. We dont know the troubled teenage girls name but we follow her rapid descent into her life as an addict. Im now a mum and i decided a couple of years ago to read the book myself. Learn exactly what happened in this chapter, scene, or section of go ask alice and what it means. Alice acted like she was sick, so she didnt had to go to school.
The whole book is a fetid lie, and a poorly executed one at that. A riveting firstperson tale of addiction, in the tradition of go ask alice and jays journal. Alice is bullied by her old druggie group, and cant seem to fit in with the squares. Sparks, 82, 83 next, another reason go ask alice should be banned is the excessive use of illegal substances. Alice alice is the anonymous protagonist her name is an allusion to a jefferson airplane song whose intermittent diary entries narrate go ask alice. Joel gave her alice a lot of strength and offered her to go to the funeral. Every book on your english syllabus summed up in a quote from the office. Yet it was originally promoted as nonfiction, its still sold as by anonymous and the copy i have has this is alice s true story on the cover plus the blurb on the back, the foreword and the psychologists comment at the back everything is still packaged to make out this is nonfiction. 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.
In the 1970s, this fake diary scaredand temptedteenage. The diary begins right before alice s fifteenth birthday. Essay about go ask alice by anonymous 837 words bartleby. Go ask alice 2006 read online free book by anonymous in. Even now im not really sure which parts of myself are real and which parts are things ive gotten from books. Her experiences have desensitized her to just about everything, so now sex is no longer some magical. An intelligent, sensitive girl with a literary flair, she experiments with drugs and the counterculture to escape from.
Go ask alice by anonymous about the book she doesnt want to get hooked on drugs. My very go ahead principal read it to the whole school in assembly over the course of a couple of weeks. The go ask alice book of answers by columbia universitys health education program and a great selection of related books, art and collectibles available now at. Based on a 15yearolds diary, go ask alice is the intimate account of one girls fatal journey into the world of drug addiction. I know the book is over 40 years old but go ask alice really feels it. Go ask alice by beatrice sparks, breaking bailey by anonymous, calling maggie may by anonymous, it happened. This book is a dairy kept by an unnamed girl who takes drugs in the early 70s. Alice or whatever her name is timeline in go ask alice.
Perfect for acing essays, tests, and quizzes, as well as for writing lesson plans. The main characters of this fiction, young adult story are. Every time after she uses, she feels guilty and low and vows to stay away. Review by richard gage, struthers high school, struthers, ohio excellent script with a great message. Only publishers weekly threw shade, remarking that it seems awfully well. At the party, alice unwittingly drops lsd and experiences a fantastic drug trip.
Pdf go ask alice book by beatrice sparks free download. A book report on go ask alice english literature essay. At the 16th of june, alice s grandmother died in her sleep. Go ask alice a real diary timeline timetoast timelines.
Our team members have advanced degrees in public health, health education, medicine, counseling, and a number of other. In go ask alice there are many illegal substance references throughout the entire book. The book was published and marketed for years as a real diary, ostensibly the diary of a psychiatrists client now being published after the diarists death from an overdose as an object lesson to young people. Go ask alice is unnecessary proof that sex and drug stories are the best money makers. Go ask alice is a 1971 fiction book about a teenage girl who develops a drug habit at age 15 and runs away from home on a journey of selfdestructive escapism. I think that this book shows you the consequences of drugs. She had a perfectly normal life until she moved to a new town and one. 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.
But as well as discovering new friends, dating and going to parties, the author of this diary discovers something else. Go ask alice, which reads like a diary, describes a teenage girls experiences with narcotics and sex. Challenges in 1978, school boards in richmond and langley, b. However, beatrice sparks, a psychologist, stepped forward. Beth leaves for summer camp and alice goes to live with her grandparents. This book is an honest account of a young person finding themselves accidentally in the world of addiction. Go ask alice is based on the actual diary of a fifteenyearold drug user. Go ask alice questions and answers the question and answer sections of our study guides are a great resource to ask questions, find answers, and discuss literature. Read another book that deals with teenagers and drugs, such as crank by ellen hopkins and smack by melvin burgess. The drug use written throughout the book is not appropriate for middle school or elementary, but should be permitted for high school level. Im an advocate for banned stories that teach difficult lessons the easier way, and go ask alice definitely falls into this category.
The first edition of the novel was published in 1971, and was written by beatrice sparks. First published in 1971, go ask alice is a controversial book involving teenage addiction. Only parents can decide if they want their children to read go ask alice. The poor girl in this story gets hooked on acid, which is possible to do, i know people who have been there before, and trys so. Sparks published her second book, voices a collection of nonfiction interviews with troubled. Go ask alice has been around for decades, and is even being used as reading material in high schools. Titillated horror, for the young reader, at the books dramatic. She is bored, but reunites with an old friend, jill, who invites alice to a party. The book and especially the ending shows the harsh reality of drugs and addiction in teenagers. Teenagers of every race, religion, and clique relate deeply to the words of the anonymous teenager within the book go ask alice, by an anonymous girl whose life enters a place where, as most teenagers, she has no idea who to turn to, or where to go.
First paperback edition march 1998 go ask alice taken from white rabbit, written by grace slick. Go ask alice is an amazing story that is passed on a real persons diary. She died three weeks after the last journal entry was written. Its written in first person in traditional diary form. He identified linda glovach, an author of youngadult novels, as one of the preparerslets call them forgersof go ask alice, although he did. Im partly somebody else trying to fit in and say the right things and do the right thing and be in the right place and wear what everybody else is wearing.
Go ask alice this book was about a diary of a 15yearold anonymous girl that someone found and turned into a book. Go ask alice book by anonymous official publisher page. Attributed to anonymous, the book is in diary form, and was originally presented as being the edited real diary of the unnamed teenage protagonist. The book was published in multiple languages including english, consists of 2 pages and is available in paperback format. The book that defined my teen anxiety turned out to be a lie. I first heard of go ask alice when still in school in the 1980s. 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 sensitive. With over a million copies in print, this book has become a classic.
Go ask alice is a 1971 fiction book about a teenage girl who develops a drug addiction at age. Alice decided to ask jill to get her some marijuana to try for the first time. Ok, now that ive calmed down a little bit, lets actually discuss this real diary. The author of this diary began journaling on her sixteenth birthday. A lot of the time i dont notice age with books when im lost in a story but i dont think the text. Alice meets joel, good guy and will hunting caricature. At the beginning of the book, the diarist is in her early to mid teens.
This passage from the book go ask alice was when alice first decided to quit using drugs and to stay clean. This is a pretty different attitude than the one alice has at the beginning of the book, huh. 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. This book is an honest account of a young person finding themselves. I think ill go into child guidance when i get out of school.
If you purchased this book without a cover you should be aware that this book is stolen property. Everyone who encounters go ask alice goes through the same four stages. The sobering message of go ask alice had a huge effect on my. Both chris and alice decide to go to san francisco thinking that moving to a different place is going to help them with quitting their addiction and habits towards drugs, alcohol, and. It was simple to stage, yet the action carries the plays powerful theme.
But she just cant resist the way the drugs make her feelbeautiful and popular and connected to the world around her. Then write an essay comparing and contrasting the book to go ask alice. As alice set off to the library to research drugs, she ran into the guy who helped her the night she got drugged, bill, who asked her out on a. Poignant and unflinchingly honest, her story is a tragedy that is repeated in towns and cities across the country.
Im now a mum and i decided a couple of years ago to read the book. This book is about the life of a girl, and all the troubles that she goes through with drugs. To ask other readers questions about go ask alice, please sign up. She decides to go home again, and her family is happy shes back. The go ask alice community note includes chapterbychapter summary and analysis, character list, theme list, historical context, author biography and quizzes written by community members like you. It may be reproduced in its entirety or excerpted for these.
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