Product Description

Alice is fifteen, white, middle-class. She diets. She dates. She gets decent grades. She thinks someday she'd like to get married and raise a family. On July 9, Alice is turned on to acid. She digs it. Acid makes the world a better place. It opens up the world of sex. It made Alice feel free. Sometimes Alice worries about taking drugs. But she figures life is more bearable with drugs than without. Alice's parents don't know what's happening. They notice changes. They think Alice might be 'associating with the wrong people'. They have no idea she's on drugs. They cannot help her. The difference betweeen Alice and a lot of other kids on drugs is that Alice kept a diary ...

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #352921 in Books
• Published on: 2003-07-02
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• 192 pages

The New York Times Book Review
‘An extraordinary work… a document of horrifying reality.’

Boston Globe
‘A book that all teenagers and parents of teenagers should really read.’

Guardian
‘It shows the awful pressures ... the isolation of one who wanders off the track and, alone, finds it impossible to fight her way back.’

Customer Reviews

Awesome!
I have read this book over and over again since I was 14. Each and everytime I find something new and understand it just that little bit more. To me Alice's diary demonstrates the pressure on teens now, haven't changed in any real way at all, to what it was like then. There are still people pushing drugs, kids still despise what their parents say and it just keeps going on from one generation to the next. This book made me think a lot more about every decision I made and how it might affect me. I think about Alice at the most unusual times like when I'm shopping as if she was my friend and I actually knew her. Growing up is hard enough but to try and do that and quit drugs at the same time would be torture. I would recommend this book to anyone and everyone no matter what age. Parents will appreciate it because it will remind them of just how hard it was to be a teenager. For teenagers it'll be a bit of a wake up call that will show you just what drugs will do to you and that you have to choose your friends wisely. This is a book that you will read over and over again as if each time was the first.

A curious work of fiction
Go Ask Alice is definitely a most bizarre book. When first published in the early seventies it was presented as an actual diary of a fifteen-year-old drug-user, later it turned out to be written by a middle-aged, mormon woman by the name of Beatrix Sparks. This definitely could explain some of the more puzzling aspects of the book. Within days of having her coke spiked with acid at a party, Alice is shooting speed and is launched into the degenerate world of drugs which consists of rape and prostitution, vindictive peers and (gasp!) homosexuality. Alice finds it impossible to get out of the vicious circle where junkies are constantly throwing free drugs at her. (Who would have guessed junkies were so generous with their suplies?) Alice almost makes it back to a happy, normal life with the help of her family, who are like characters out of a fiftie's sitcom (She even has a little brother named Tim), but alas, what kind of ending would that have been?
It is important for kids and adults alike to have good information on drugs (and the misery that often go with them) but if you're looking for a realistic book, this ain't it.

Harrowing
Ever since reading "Junk" by Melvin Burgess, I've been addicted to drug-addled teenage books, as I can certainly relate to their tales. But "Go Ask Alice" defied all expectations I had of the genre. At first Alice may seem childish, immature for her years, but read on and you gain an insight into how very adult she must become, very quickly. As we follow Alice through her internal struggles with drugs, the vivid way she describes her experiences really helps us to relate and sympathise with this character. Although the language is quite archaeic at some points and at times Alice can see quite prissy and self-righteous, this book truly grips the reader, every diary entry another insight into the bleak world of drug-addiction. Somehow, as if she had a premeditated wish for the world to see her diary, Alice explains every detail so the reader is never lost or confused.

All in all, "Go Ask Alice" will truly captivate any reader that, like me, seeks more insight into drug addiction: how it feels, how it affects others around you and what goes wrong. What truly brings home this dark story is when the diary entries end quite abruptly and the subject of the story (i.e Alice) dies.

I would highly recommend this book, not just for teens curious about society's harsh outlook on drugs, but for adults too. For anyone that can relate to Alice's story, for anyone that knows someone in Alice's position, for anyone who is simply interested in the topics covered.