Go Ask Alice - Book Review

Go Ask Alice

Author: Anonymous

Type of Book: Diary

The title of the book is Go Ask Alice, written by 'Anonymous'. It was published by Aladdin Paperbacks in the year of 1967. This book is non-fiction. It is 185 pages long, including the epilogue. This book is a diary from an anonymous person discussing her issues that a lot of teens go through, such as: drugs, sex, parents, and being accept into society.

Main Characters:

Anonymous (possibly Alice): Alice is a troubled teen who seeks happiness and acceptance from society, but suffers from drug use, low self-esteem, and lack of communication with her parents.

Mom and Dad: Her parents who were very strict on her, but eventually grew to accept her for who she was the more trouble she got into.

Joel: Her love interest that she becomes great friends with towards the end of the novel.

Throughout the book, the setting changes from her home, to various places she moved to whether it was to attempt to start a new life, or her writing from an insane asylum. 'Anonymous' tells the story and is also the protagonist. Her parents play somewhat of a major role towards the middle of the novel and he friends Chris and Joel are a huge part in certain parts of the book. The mood throughout the book ranges depending on what is going on in her life at the time. When she was using drugs, the mood was very happy and vivacious; but when she lost her grandparents and was eventually sent to an insane asylum, the mood changed to sad and scary.

The book is about a 15 year old girl whose main worries at the beginning of the book are about her crush, Rodger, her self-image, and not being able to relate to her parents. Her father, a dean, is offered a position in another town, which means that her and her family has to move along with him. Being the new girl at her new school, she has no friends but eventually becomes close friends with her neighbor Beth. They become really close, but then she is sent away to a Jewish camp for the summer, leaving Alice alone; so she goes back to her hometown to live with her grandparents for the summer.

While living with her grandparents, her old friend Jill invites her to a party with a few friends. They play a game called, 'button, button' where 10 of the 14 cups of Coke were spiked with the drug LSD, but she was completely unaware of the game. Hers was ironically spiked with the drug. She then discovers what happened to her and admits that it was a great feeling, but would never do drugs again; but uses pot and acid out of curiosity and peer-pressure. She also fears that she may be pregnant after having sex with her friend while under the influence of acid, leaving her with no one to talk to about any of this.

Later while shopping at a boutique, Alice meets a girl named Chris, who has hippie qualities and very relatable. They are both emotionally detached from their families and are familiar with the usage of drugs. They eventually become really close friends and start using marijuana and selling it with their boyfriends as well. Chris and Alice later discover that their boyfriends were having an affair and told the cops about they're drug dealing and usage and flee away the San Francisco; where they promise to stay drug free and start their lives over.

They both eventually find jobs: Alice