At the 16th of june, alices grandmother died in her sleep. This book describes the districts attempt to answer two basic questions. Some people maintain that alice in wonderland can only have been written by an author with considerable hallucinogenic mushroom experience under their belt. Returning to it as an adult feels a bit like youre taking part in a piece of pop culture in the vein of scared straight or reefer madness. Go ask alice is based on the actual diary of a fifteenyearold drug user. Parents and school boards were worried that this book would encourage teens and preteens to try out drugs.
Go ask alice in the book, go ask alice, a young girl, who felt like an outcast, was invited to a party. Essay about go ask alice by anonymous 837 words bartleby. Then she helped by a priest that helps her reunite with her family. Alice begins to sell drugs to help her boyfriend earn money. Definitions of go ask alice, synonyms, antonyms, derivatives of go ask alice, analogical dictionary of go ask alice english. Sparks second diary project, jays journal, gave rise to a controversy that cast further doubt on go ask alice s veracity. Go ask alice, beatrice sparks in 1968, a 15yearold girl begins keeping a diary, in which she records her thoughts and concerns about issues such as crushes, weight loss, sexuality, social acceptance, and relating to her parents. The book that defined my teen anxiety turned out to be a lie. Though go ask alice is a classic, its not a good book. The book and especially the ending shows the harsh reality of drugs and addiction in teenagers. I think this book writes in a interesting way while it teaches us a life lesson by expressing in diary form. From sex and relationships to alcohol and drugs to fitness and nutrition, this comprehensive handbook is the first of its kind to provide muchneeded information for young adults who cannot get reliable or anonymous. I think it is important to have on this list because it is extremely controversial and i feel like it sums up most parents fears about what can happen to their children.
As such, we hope it will provide insights into the. Go ask alice is small, 224 under size pages and written in diary format so is a quick read. Who does she sell drugs to that makes her feel really guilty and upset. Lines from go ask alice that, in hindsight, should have tipped me. Leading up to banned books week 2012, ala will highlight one book. Alice is an anonymous character and the most we know about her is that she is white, middleclass teenager who struggles to fit.
The poor girl in this story gets hooked on acid, which is possible to do, i know people who have been there before, and trys so. For thirtyfive years, the acclaimed, bestselling firstperson account of a teenage girls harrowing decent into the nightmarish world of drugs has left an indelible mark on generations of teen readers. Go ask alice was published anonymously in 1971, but in the last two decades, it still lives in the top 25 most frequently banned books, according to the. Go ask alice was published anonymously in 1971, but in the last two decades, it still lives in the top 25 most frequently banned books. Michigan removed from the school library in kalkaska for language. Go ask alice by beatrice sparks, 198208, avon flare edition, mass market paperback in english 1st avon flare printing 77. In the 1970s, this fake diary scaredand temptedteenage. Go ask alice has been around for decades, and is even being used as reading material in high schools. The title go ask alice was taken from a 1967 jefferson airplane song called white rabbit. I picked up this book at our recent friends of the library sale. It is not a definitive statement on the middleclass, teenage drug world. Teenagers of every race, religion, and clique relate deeply to the words of the anonymous teenager within the book go ask alice, by an anonymous girl whose life enters a place where, as most teenagers, she has no idea who to turn to, or where to go. Go ask alice is a 1971 fiction book about a teenage girl who develops a drug addiction at age 15 and runs away from home on a journey of selfdestructive escapism. The book controversy is first described chronologically and then from the perspectives of four.
The dates and locations mentioned in the book place its events as occurring between 1968 and 1970 in california. Go ask alice is an amazing story that is passed on a real persons diary. Novel versus the movie adaption of go ask alice essay cram. Go ask alice is a 1971 book generally viewed to have been written by the author beatrice sparks, however the novel was published originally under the pseudonym anonymous. The book was purported to be the real journal of a 15yearold girl who was the alice of the title. Included are new features, more interaction, better integration with social media, and a widget to have go ask alice. Once thought to be nonfiction, go ask alice is categorized as fiction now.
Thoughts on go ask alice banned books week youtube. The go ask alice book of answers is a groundbreaking guide that mines the best material from the eponymous awardwinning web site. I think you mean go ask alice by anonymous aka beatrice sparks, but anywho. Open library is an open, editable library catalog, building towards a web page for every book ever published. Information and translations of go ask alice in the most comprehensive dictionary definitions resource on the web.
The higher power of lucky, a young adult fiction book about a 10yearold girl, used the word. Lyrics in the song white rabbit by the band jefferson airplane 2. Controversy behind go ask alice duffys napa valley rehab. Its success has been attributed to the timing of its publication at the height of the psychedelic era, when the negative effects of drug use were becoming a public concern. She was a good girl from a good family, with everything she could want or need. Today we feature the year 1993 and go ask alice, by anonymous. Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools. Yet it was originally promoted as nonfiction, its still sold as by anonymous and the copy i have has this is alices true story on the cover plus the blurb on the back, the foreword and the psychologists comment at the back everything is still packaged to make out this is nonfiction. Go ask alice is still awash in controversy, 43 years. Go ask alice is a diary of a teenage middleclass girl. Attributed to anonymous, the book is in diary form, and was originally presented as being the edited. A hoax with consequences closer to home is go ask alice.
In the tradition of go ask alice and lucy in the sky, a harrowing account of anorexia and addiction. Then write an essay comparing and contrasting the book to go ask alice. She is a pretty typical teenage girl in the late 1960sshes mostly concerned with school, boys, her hair, and fitting in okay, thats pretty typical for any decade when her fathers new job causes her family to move across the country, alice is thrust into a new school at a time when she is at best sensitive. Be sure to give several specific examples from the text and the song. She was so excited to finally be accepted by them, all she ever really wanted was to be one of them. If youre looking for help with a personal book recommendation, consult our weekly recommendation thread, suggested reading page, or ask in rsuggestmeabook. Go ask alice is still awash in controversy, 43 years after publication. In striving to enrich the lives of all readers, teachingbooks supports the first amendment and celebrates the right to read.
If a book is good, if its artful, entertaining, and informative, should it matter who. It is our intent and purpose to foster and encourage indepth discussion about all things related to books, authors, genres, or publishing in a safe, supportive environment. Go ask alice by anonymous banned book but was it real. Go ask alice, a diary of a teenage girl who fell into drug use and committed suicide, is the most frequently censored book in high school.
In honor of banned books week, jo asked a few of us booktubers to pick a banned book and make a video on it. And the kicker is that its supposedly ripped from the diary of an actual teenaged girl. Title stance on the book 3 articles it was banned challenged in 2001, 2002, 2004, 2008, and 2009 it was banned usually in schools and libraries title. The sobering message of go ask alice had a huge effect on my lifeand then i found out the real story. Alice acted like she was sick, so she didnt had to go to school.
Created during the height of the drug era, the girl could be anyone from this time who found him or herself seduced by the mindaltering affects of marijuana, lsd, bennies, dexies, and heroin. Upon its 1971 publication, go ask alice quickly became a publishing sensation and an international bestseller, being translated into 16 languages. Joel gave her alice a lot of strength and offered her to go to the funeral. Some of the recurring reasons for it being banned are language, sexual content, and drug use. Go ask alice is a 1971 book about the life of a troubled teenage girl. It graphically describes the waking hell into which the main character descends, her heartfelt but futile battles to return home and stay clean, her pleas to god to. Go ask alice is a reference to a jefferson airplane song called white rabbit, which alludes to rampant hallucinogenic drug use in lewis carrolls alice in wonderland. Read another book that deals with teenagers and drugs, such as crank by ellen hopkins and smack by melvin burgess. Go ask alice, a real diary in print for four decades.
Go ask alice is written as the diary of a fifteenyearold girls daytoday struggle with drug addiction. Explain in detail how the lyrics of the song parallel the story. Sparks second diary project, jays journal, gave rise to a controversy that cast further doubt on. The story is a look into a teenage girls life as she gets mixed up in the tragic life of drugs. A book report on go ask alice english literature essay. It may be reproduced in its entirety or excerpted for these. For our final project my group read the book go ask alice by anonymous.
Alice, once a shy, innocent girl, is sucked into the heartless world of drugs because of her need to be accepted. Go ask alice by anonymous beatrice sparks banned library. The novel is in epistolary format, being comprised entirely of diary entries and as such, was first thought to be an autobiography. In each case, the controversy centered not on a vulgarism, but on the. Literary hoaxes and the ethics of authorship the new yorker.
Through out the history of film, many productions have been made based on best selling novels. Go ask alice was first published in 1971 and has since become one of the most banned books of all time. Or maybe you saw the 1973 madefortv movie based on it costarring star treks william shatner. It is, however, a highly personal and specific chronicle. As powerfuland as timelytoday as ever, go ask alice remains the.
Only parents can decide if they want their children to read go ask alice. Go ask alice was the product of beatrice sparks, an author who has come out with a number of teens who saw their lives ruined by their bad choices offerings, each one presented as a true. A major controversy arose in 1987 in a midwestern school district, after a middle school teacher assigned the novel go ask alice to her seventhgrade class. So go ask alice is the story of a young woman falling into a spiral of drugs, depression, and debauchery after an accidental exposure to drugs. In a 1995 village voice column for banned books week, nat hentoff described it as an extraordinarily. An award winning novel by the name of go ask alice did that. A website that has information about health for teens 3. The diary begins right before alices fifteenth birthday.
Do books like go ask alice help or hinder addiction education and recovery. Throughout the whole book, it brought the readers attention by giving us enough details. Novel versus the movie adaption of go ask alice essay. Go ask alice is a 1971 novel by beatrice sparks that bills itself the reallife diary of an anonymous teenage girl. All picture source titles are hyperlinked to the pages that they appear on this site.
The kids who were there were considered popular at her old school. Georgia along with 40 other books, the gainesville public library restricted this book to adults and is kept in a locked room. Only publishers weekly threw shade, remarking that it seems awfully well. I chose go ask alice and it is certainly the strangest book ive read this year. This is my second read of go ask alice, and i loved it just as much the second time around im an advocate for banned stories that teach difficult lessons the. With over a million copies in print, this book has become a classic. Based on a 15yearolds diary, go ask alice is the intimate account of one girls fatal journey into the world of drug addiction. Poignant and unflinchingly honest, her story is a tragedy that is repeated in towns and cities across the country. The list go ask alice has been one of the most frequently challenged books, according to the american library associations frequently challenged books of the 21st century list, since its publication in 1971, for content relating to drugs, sexual explicitness, offensive language, and inappropriate themes for the target age group frequently challenged 1. I am always on the look out for classics and banned books often one and the same when i seen a copy of this book. Originally sold as the real diary of an actual teenager, go ask alice is the fauxmemoir of a 15yearold girl whose life is dominated by her drug problems. Go ask alice is the firstperson tale of an accidental downward spiral into drugs, alcohol, unwanted sex, and impoverished living. Posted by jmariedavis december 8, 2011 leave a comment on go ask alice.
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