Go Ask Alice (Anonymous)

I read Go Ask Alice about a month ago after hearing about it from a friend. While doing some research, I learned about the controversy around it, and I just had to read it for myself.

I wouldn't suggest Go Ask Alice to anyone who cannot handle intense subjects. The book itself is the diary of a 15 year old girl who began her life as a drug addict at a party. She was offered LSD, and from there, her life was changed dramatically. It doesn't take long for her to experiment with other drugs, and for her to end up as a runaway. Together, her and other drug addicts begin to live a self destructive life.

The diarist is actually never named in the book, and Alice is just a minor character who is another addict she met on the streets.

It has been suggested that the book was written by Beatrice Sparks(who has published many other anonymous journals), who was the publisher, as a work of fiction. However, nothing was denied or confirmed.

To this day, many school and public libraries refuse to keep the book on the shelves because of its mature content. The book was even ranked as number 6 on the 100 most frequently challenged books of 2003.

All in all, I would give it a 6 out of 10, however, if you cannot handle very intense content in your reading, I wouldn't suggest reading it.