Anonymous. Go Ask Alice. New York: Simon Pulse, 2006.
I had not really heard of this book before, I first picked it up because I was intrigued by the fact it was written by Anonymous. It states that it is based on the diary of a fifteen year drug user but it is also classified as fiction. Therefore I caution the reader to take the book with a grain of salt. When I read it I hadn’t seen that it was fiction and therefore I thought that it was the actual diary of a fifteen year drug addict and that only a few things were changed to protect the identity of those people mentioned in the diary. But after finding out that it was classified as fiction a lot of things began to make more sense, such as how the diarist was able to continue writing in her diary even when she was high. Those diary entries were apparently undated and written on paper bags and single sheets of paper but it never made sense to me that the editors were able to find all these loose entries or that she even wrote them at all.
Whether this book is seen as fiction or nonfiction it is a good cautionary tale against drug use. The main character is unknowingly given LSD in her soda at a party and soon is hooked on all drugs. This lets the reader know that it really only takes one time to get addicted to drugs without being preachy. This is a book that teens and their parents should read and discuss; the teens need to be aware of the dangers of drug use and the parents need to be reminded of how the minds of teenagers work and how easily it can be for them to give into peer pressure and try drugs.
Highly recommended.
