"Go Ask Alice" Reflection

"Go Ask Alice"

Go ask Alice. (1998). New York, NY: Aladdin Paperbacks.



I am admittedly not a fan of informational text. I read it to and with my class because I know it is important but I usually have to force myself to read it on my own and have a difficult time comprehending what I'm reading because my mind wanders. However, "Go Ask Alice" was like no other informational story I have ever read before. I couldn't put it down!

"Go Ask Alice" is a first-person account, written as a diary, of a young girl struggling with life, and most importantly, sobriety. The main character is never named, but by the end of the book you feel like you know her. The readers hears all of her most private thoughts and go on the incredibly difficult journey of a young drug addict in what I believe is the 1970s. Although she came from a middle-class, happy, loving family, once the character is accidentally introduced to LSD one summer while visiting her grandparents, her life is never the same. She is in a constant struggle with herself, whether or not she should use again. When she is using, she feels wonderful, but her life is terrible. She is beaten, raped, and used. No matter how terrible things get while using, staying clean is an everyday struggle. Not only is she fighting with herself, but with the other "dopers" at her school who are angry that she quit. 

The organization is unlike any other book I've read. Some entries are labeled with dates (month and day) while others are labeled with question marks because it is unknown when they were written. This made me want to keep reading, because I never knew where to stop! This poor, young girl really was a wonderful writer. She used imagery and metaphor to describe her situations to where at times I felt like I was there. For example, on page 33 when she was describing her first time using LSD she writes, " Each note had a character, shape and color all its very own and seemed to be entirely separate from the rest of the score..." and on page 114 when she is feeling strung out, lost, and lonely she writes, "A raindrop from heaven just splashed on my forehead and it was like a teardrop from heaven". 

"Go Ask Alice" is almost excruciatingly sad, but yet so real. You know the young girl is making such bad choices, but you feel empathy and sympathy for her and wish you could help her and give her someone to talk to like she pleads for so many times throughout the story. This book is definitely for mature audiences only, possibly juniors and seniors in high school or even college-aged students. However, it is a real-life look at what life is like on drugs. It does not glamorize or encourage drug use, it is a warning showing first hand the horrors of drug addiction. Some questions I would ask for students would be:

What do you think her parents could have done differently to help keep her clean? Is there anything they could have done?

Have you ever experienced peer pressure like the main character does? Being threatened and bullied for making a different choice? How did you handle the situation?

Write a journal entry from another family member- Mom, Dad, Tim, or Alex. Pick a point in the book and write how you think her family was feeling and what they were thinking.