8. Go Ask Alice

Go Ask Alice. Anonymous. 1971. Simon and Schuster. New York, New York.

Annotation: This book is based on the diary of an un-named 15 year old girl struggling to fit it. She gets LSD slipped into her Coke at a party, and winds up in a turbulent cycle of drug addiction over the next year. She documents her struggles to stay clean in this diary.

Justification for Rejection: The author of the diary describes her experiences with drugs very vividly, which took place during the sixties or seventys. As I read about her dramatic change from the shy, unconfident girl to an out-of-control teen that would do anything to get her next fix, I could not help but feel for her. It was very interesting and intruiging to read about what went on in her mind when she was high or out on the streets without her parents knowing where she was. It really was a page-turner, and the book was very eventful. I thought it was a very good book that provided a great documentation of a young girl struggling with addiction, I would not nominated the book. At some points in the book, I found it a little difficult to believe that the author was really a teen girl and whether the book was fiction or non fiction.

Genre: Edgy/banned. Coming of Age. Fiction?