Go Ask Alice

Go Ask Alice is a novel penned by an author referred to only as Anonymous and edited by Beatrice Sparks[?]. The book itself purports to be the detailed diary of a drug-addicted teen in the 1970s that has been edited only to remove repitition. Much doubt exists as to the book's veracity. Sparks has subsequently given the vague explanation that she wrote the book herself based on an actual diary but with her own additions inspired by other case studies.

Sparks has "edited" many other purported diaries including Jay's Journal, the "actual diary" of a teenage boy lured into devil workship but like Go Ask Alice featured many fictitious additions. Later books were pure fiction where the title gave the story. These included Treacherous Love: The Diary of an Anonymous Teenager[?], Almost Lost : The True Story of an Anonymous Teenager's Life on the Streets[?], Annie's Baby : The Diary of Anonymous, a Pregnant Teenager[?] and It Happened to Nancy : By an Anonymous Teenager[?].

Synopsis of Go Ask Alice: Warning: Wikipedia contains spoilers

Capturing the torture and hell of adolescence, it tells the story of the lonely and self-hating female protagonist, under constant pressure from her "perfect" parents. Her first encounter with drugs is when she drinks something at party spiked with LSD. It takes the edge off of her bad feelings but as she delves into the darkness of drug addiction her life becomes consumed with highs and lows. The diary entries vary erratically from optimism to despair. Although there are some out-dated references to hippies and a lot of expired slang, the book continues to be a classic for teens in the present day. Though the debate over its authenticity continues, there is no debating the profound effect its text has had in the last twenty-five years. At the end of the book, Alice is finally happy and over her drug addiction. She decides to stop keeping a diary. Three weeks later, she is found dead from a heroin overdose. The circumstances of this are unknown.