The mother-drug-novel of them all, GAA made quite a splash when it was first published back in the early seventies, and has regularly made the banned book list ever since. It was published as a true diary account of a girl who goes from goody-goody to homeless addict due to her introduction to LSD at a party. Since then, it has come out that Alice was actually written by a real author and wasn’t some anonymous girl’s diary after all. Having said that, I don’t think it minimizes the power of this book one iota. If you want to know what its like to take an acid trip, run away from home, or spend a little time in a mental institution, read this book or watch Oliver Stone’s The Doors. Either way, you’ll be wearing a “Drugs Suck!” t-shirt before you can say “This is your brain…”
I loved this book. After I read it, I found it wasn’t the true diary, which made me upset. The message is still there, but it changed it for me.
I have a suggestion for this list:
Crank by Ellen Hopkins. Crank is written in verse, and is told from the POV of Kristinia, the meth-addicted former honor student. The book is based on Ellen Hopkin’s struggles with her daughter’s addiction to crank. The sequel, Glass, is just as good. Crank and Glass deal with how the drug-addiction affects the addicts families, not just the user. It certainly helped me with my aunt’s drug addiction, and really changed how I viewed me aunt, and all drug-addicts. All of her other books– Glass, Burned, and Impulse, are very powerful and deal with the things that we– teens– deal with, sometimes, on a daily basis.
Hi Bridgette,
I know, I should have added Crank long ago! I agree it is an excellent treatment of drug addiction, and I even covered it in my Reading Rants book. I just haven’t backtracked yet and added it here, so thank you for your review! I hope you’ll visit and post often.
I really enjoyed the novel Go ask Alice, but it disappoints me that its not real, because after I read it I figured it wasn’t the true diary of some teenager. I know its not because no 15 yr old in the 70’s writes that brilliant with huge words!!! its all bullsh*t!
I don’t care that it wasn’t the true dairy, although it does take something way from it, its a great book.
it not being a true diary is perfectly fine i believe people have a freedom of writing so calm down this book is wonderful… yay!
I LOVE GO ASK ALICE. I WANT TO BUY THE BOOK BUT I DONT KNOW EHERE TO GET ONE. SHE IS A GOOD BOOK WRITER I CAN SAY WE HAVE A LOT IN COMMON. I CAN SEE WHERE SHE IS COMING FROM. I JUST WISH SHE HAD A SECEND BOOK… ONCE AGINE GO ASK ALICE IS A GREAT BOOK AND EVERYONE SHOULD READ IT!..
i;m reading this book it looks good to me
this was a real eye opener to me and probubly young teens everywhere. it has actually helped my deal with my drug addiction. thankyou for writing this book it helped alot along the way
i am just reading this book and i want to keep reading it seems like a good book and i love teen books and this sounds like a good book!!!!!!
I loved this book!!!
I really enjoyed this I got it at this sale and I almost put it back im so glad I didint
I loved this book, even though I’m a bit young for it! It doesn’t matter if it’s true or not because it is true that any other teens face similar scenarios, and it still had a great meaning. I loved it!!!
This was an amazing book. I’m really into books about teens with problems, and Go Ask Alice was quite depressing, I mean knowing that she just kept going back to drugs…. The ending was sad but it was really worth my time.
I love this book. By the first page I had jumped into a roller coaster of emotions and-most importantly- drugs. This is not your ordinary Teen Drug story. No, far from it. This is a true story of the hardships and feelings of a druggie. This is a wide-eyed opener. I have never read something so strong and inspirational before. I’m glad I did. A tough loss for anyone that puts this book on a shelf to collect dust. Amazing and touching on every page!
This book was very depressing. I read it in one day and i loved the book. However I the ending really got to me. I even had a nightmare about it.(I know I’m a freak). I guess it hit me b/c it could be any of the drug addicts at school or anyone whom gets drugged w/out knowledge. I think that every high school child should read this book because it really shows people how drugs can mess you up.
I absolutely love this book! I read it when i was 11 and it was a big smack to the face. I felt like i was abrubtly pulled into Alice’s world and I felt the pain that she went threw. This was… just wow. It truly opened my eyes.
Now I know this isn’t an actually diary, but it sure seems like one! The whole time you feel like your in Alice’s shoes as she walks in the dangerous world of drugs. It really made me not want to get hooked on them!