The torture and hell of adolescence has rarely been captured as clearly as it is in this classic diary by an anonymous, addicted teen. Lonely, awkward, and under extreme pressure from her "perfect" parents, "Anonymous" swings madly between optimism and despair. When one of her new friends spikes her drink with LSD, this diarist begins a frightening journey into darkness. The drugs take the edge off her loneliness and self-hate, but they also turn her life into a nightmare of exalting highs and excruciating lows.

Although there is still some question as to whether this diary is real or fictional, there is no question that it has made a profound impact on millions of readers during the more than 25 years it has been in print. Despite a few dated references to hippies and some expired slang, Go Ask Alice still offers a jolting chronicle of a teenager's life spinning out of control.

In my opinion GO ASK ALICE is a very realistic book. Because it was written and published in 1971 you have to forgive the book being a generation behind in coolness, if you will. However, coolness is not what GO ASK ALICE is about. This diary-style-written-book is a story of a 15 year old girl who goes through the trials and tribulations of the basic teenager who throughout the book remain anonymous. "Anon" finds her diary to be her only friend and confides in it for almost 2 years. During this time she goes through truly horrific experiences in which she shares with no one except us (the reader) and her good ole' dear diary.

The entries make two diaries total and at the end of the book everything is completely left unexplained. I wish that would have been more clear. Obviously, if this really is based on a true diary and Anon decided not to continue to write anymore, we would not know, but I don't believe that Anon had a relapse. I just wish there would have been some more of the diary so there wouldn't be so many questions.

I hope that the kids in this generation won't let the verbage in GO ASK ALICE turn them off to reading this book because it's very informal and should really be read in it's entirety. I have read reviews that a lot of kids quit the book or that it's fake, etc.

This is for those people:

1. Read the book completely and we'll talk.
2. Have you been there? Yes, I mean right up in the middle of an acid trip. Good or bad. Smoked a doobie? Snorted a line? Shot up some heroin? Candy-flipped? Ate a handful of shrooms?
3. Don't judge or talk about things unless you REALLY know what you're talking about.

Rating 4 Stars
Purchased from Borders
Paperback, 159 pages
Published December 27th 2005 by Simon Pulse