Go Ask Alice is a story about a girl who accidentally takes drugs, when acid is put into her drink. It changes her life. Her parents try to help her, as they move to a new house, but she ends up finding her way back to LSD, again. She is in and out of hospitals, including a mental hospital, because of it. Alice runs away with a friend and tries to make a go of it on her own, but ends up getting raped. The end does not mention that she dies, as it is a diary. In fact, Alice seems to be getting better and better. However, Alice does die, but we are not told whether or not it is an accidental or intentional overdose.
APA Reference:
Anonymous (2005). Go Ask Alice. New York : Simon Pulse/Simon Schuster.
My Impressions:
Kids are naturally curious and this book gives a lot of information about what can happen to a person who takes drugs, accidentally or not. It is a book that every teenager ought to read, in my view, as it is better to experience drugs through the eyes of someone else rather than first hand. While sometimes one's sibling or cousin comes into contact with drugs and one learns about drugs this way, other times, like Alice found out, one can find out accidentally.That is a scary and dangerous ride, which does not always have a happy ending. In the case of Alice, I was sad that in the end (or, really, after the end, in the epilogue), she dies of an overdose. However, her book lives on as a testament to her life and so, does a lot of good, I think.
There is a lot of honesty in the book, in every way, including sexual and how she feels being high and having sex. For this reason, I think it is appropriate for older kids as opposed to younger ones.
As an aside, I have a close relative who had a similar experience, but recovered and has been clean for 5 years. In her case, it happened at an older age, so maybe that made a difference. Becoming addicted as a teenager is more difficult, I think, to recover from, as teens have so many other issues to deal with, aside from that.
Professional Review:
"Alice is your typical teenaged girl. She worries that she is too fat. She wants a boyfriend: “I wish I were popular and beautiful and wealthy and talented.” She frequently makes resolutions in her diary to do better in school, work toward a calmer relationship with her mother, and lose weight. Her life changes when she goes to a party and is given acid in her drink. She loves the feeling the drug gives her: “Closed my eyes and the music began to absorb me physically. I could smell it and touch it and feel it as well as hear it.” She wants more and quickly becomes a part of the drug scene. For about a year and a halfAlice goes on and off drugs and runs away from home twice. Each time she manages to find her way back to her parents. They take her in, get her help, and all seems to be rosy until Alice is once again given acid without her knowledge. This time, she has a bad trip, ends up in the hospital, and then a mental hospital. Her parents stick by her, but her life of drug abuse ultimately ends with a fatal overdose--whether it is intentional or accidental is not known. Go Ask Alice has become a classic story of warning against the use of drugs. For the teen scene of 2006, this story will appear as slightly dated. The issues of relationships both in and out of school have not changed much in the last thirty years, but there are subtle differences in the culture that may prove distracting for a young person reading this book today. The basic story remains a chilling cautionary tale. 2005 (orig. 1971), Simon Pulse/Simon & Schuster, $6.99, $5.99 and $16.95. Ages 14 to 18."
Library Uses:
The students, whose age would be above 14 yrs., could share as to whether they actually knew someone who had a problem with drugs and what they learned from the second-hand experience. Alternatively, students could talk about anything they have a weakness for or possible addiction to, as drugs are an addiction, like anything else, albeit more dangerous. Further, the librarian could share some websites with information regarding addiction, drug awareness and education. As a possible extension, the librarian could have a speaker from the community come and share his or her experience with drugs and how he or she recovered from it.
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