Go Ask Alice

Go Ask Alice

Anonymous

ISBN: 978-1-4169-1463-1

Simon Pulse 1971



Plot Summary: This is an authentic account of a girl's journey on drugs from her diary written finishing in 1971. She first tried drugs two years earlier at a party and someone laced her drink with LSD. After that, she was drug dependent. She ended up leaving her family with her friend, Chris and they did drugs and tried to survive together. She and her friend became homesick as the holidays approached and returned home. Once home she attended a school dance with a sober friend, but the old crowd bothered her to find a new contact as she was no longer a pusher and they were angry. She stayed sober and enthusiastic for almost a month, then she and Chris got high together. After that her friend Lane was caught and then he told about the others and her family tightened the reigns. She was frustrated and left again for Denver. She ends up homeless, dirty, and alone. Once again she returns in September and enjoys her father's birthday as well as her own. After her seventeenth birthday, the family returns home one day to find her dead.



Critical Analysis: When the author tells about her time in Denver then Oregon when she had "no Kotex," no clothes, and no money, it is a haunting account of how badly addicted she was. Her writing is urgent and at times sounds forced, she seems manic, and it appears as though she is always chasing the high, whether it is life's highs, or he highs drugs provide. For teen readers it is important to understand how powerful drugs can be. The author writes in diary form and we know it is true, so hopefully it impacts readers enough to respect themselves more than she did. Her family constantly welcomes her back illustrating that this can happen to anyone.



Annotation: A real diary account of a teenage addict and her struggles with sobriety and her desire to be close to her family, but her need to be close to the drugs.



Author Information: She was anonymous. The book was published after her death. She died just weeks after she stopped writing.



Genre: YA novel/ non-fiction



Curriculum ties: English, Health (Drug Awareness)



Booktalking ideas:

1.)The author usually seems happy to be home, why do you think the comfort of home and family is not enough for her?

2.) Can you imagine being so into drugs that being homeless, dirty, bloody, and alone seem better alternatives than going home?

3.) This is a diary, and it is true, do you think if we didn't know she dies, would it be any different for us? Do you think it was accidental or not?



Challenge Issues: Drugs, suicide, sex



I would explain that this book informs teens about what could happen with drug dependence. I would advise patrons to read it if they had not yet done so. I would also point out that the lesson is in the book; she died because she could not quit.



In addition, I would explain policies for selection for San Diego County Libraries:

http://dbpcosdcsgt.co.san-diego.ca.us/screens/Intranet/policy/sdcl-policy_O.41_material-selection.pdf
If after my working to convince the patron, they still were not satisfied and wanted to file a grievance, I would provide the needed paper work and then it would go to the “Challenged Materials” team for San Diego County and then onward until there is resolution: http://dbpcosdcsgt.co.san-diego.ca.us/screens/Intranet/policy/sdcl-policy_O.34_intellectual_freedom.pdf

Selection Reasons: I choose this because the writer is sharing a real account and therefore allowing someone to learn from her tragedy.