Go ask alice was published anonymously in 1971, but in the last two decades, it still lives in the top 25 most frequently banned books, according to the. Then, in 1978, a book called voices, a compilation of stories about troubled teens, was released, with jacket copy attributing it to beatrice sparks, the author who brought you go ask alice. With over a million copies in print, go ask alice has become a classic of our time. Go ask alice was a stark counterpoint to the freewheeling ethos of the early 70s that was ahead of its time, eventually fitting in perfectly with the war on drugs. It happened to nancy, almost lost, annies baby, finding kate, kim. Some people maintain that alice in wonderland can only have been written by an author with considerable hallucinogenic mushroom experience under their belt.
Stream go ask alice unabridged audiobook at by user1868941 from desktop or your mobile device. Beatrice sparks is a mormon youth counselor and psychologist in uta h. Go ask alice is a reference to a jefferson airplane song called white rabbit, which alludes to rampant hallucinogenic drug use in lewis carrolls alice in wonderland. As such, we hope it will provide insights into the. Beatrice sparks january 15, 1917 may 25, 2012 was an american therapist and mormon youth counselor who was known for producing books purporting to be the real diaries of troubled teenagers. Discount prices on books by beatrice sparks, including titles like go ask alice jays journal anonymous diaries. For thirtyfive years, the acclaimed, bestselling firstperson account of a teenage girls harrowing decent into the nightmarish world of drugs has left an indelible mark on generations of teen readers. If one or more works are by a distinct, homonymous authors, go ahead and split the author. Mar 23, 2017 then, in 1978, a book called voices, a compilation of stories about troubled teens, was released, with jacket copy attributing it to beatrice sparks, the author who brought you go ask alice. Beatrice sparks biography list of works, study guides. Click to read more about go ask alice by beatrice sparks. These books, the most wellknown of which is go ask alice, serve as cautionary tales. Go ask alice is still awash in controversy, 43 years. Go ask alice is based on the actual diary of a fifteen year old drug user.
Jul 03, 2014 go ask alice was published anonymously in 1971, but in the last two decades, it still lives in the top 25 most frequently banned books, according to the american library association. It felt like the author beatrice sparks wasnt sure how to end it got sick of. It is said to have sold more than four million copies. In the same vein, go ask alice is young adult literature because thats the audience it was specifically geared toward.
Librarything is a cataloging and social networking site for booklovers. The diary begins right before alices fifteenth birthday. A 15yearold girl in late1960s america is sucked into an odyssey of. Parents need to know that this is a noholdsbarred vivid picture of the life of a teen heavily addicted to drugs during the 1960s. Go ask alice independent reading project a honors english. It is supposed to be nonfiction, and by reading it, youd surely think it was. Not long after go ask alices publication, beatrice sparks began. Go ask alice handler om en ung jente som uvitende far i seg lsd i en. Nowadays ya lit is pretty universal harry potter really opened the doors for people to read childrens books no matter what their agebut in 1971 when our book was written that wasnt really the case. Beatrice sparks books list of books by beatrice sparks.
The true story of an anonymous teenagers life on the. Go ask alice presentation by carlee crocker on prezi. As powerfuland as timelytoday as ever, go ask alice remains the. Along with 40 other books, the gainesville public library restricted this book to adults and is kept in a locked room. May 31, 2000 beatrice sparks is a family and adolescent therapist who edited the diary that formed the basis for go ask alice, and has since edited many diaries on topics such as gangs, aids, and teen pregnancy in the 1988 annies baby. Beatrice sparks also penned jays journal, the real diary of a boy that.
Go ask alice by beatrice sparks by tal volkozha on prezi. Our team members have advanced degrees in public health, health education, medicine, counseling, and a number of. Go ask alice by beatrice sparks, breaking bailey by anonymous, calling maggie may by anonymous, it happened. She thinks someday shed like to get married and raise a family. With over a million copies in print, go ask alice has become a. School library journal this novel in diary form powerfully depicts. On imdb tv, you can catch hollywood hits and popular tv series at no cost. The novel was compelling while the history behind the story was even more engaging. Fonts go ask alice by beatrice sparks diary gripping, thrilling, exciting and heartbreaking, after youve had it, there isnt even life without drugs. There are even entries she writes with no dates, because they were said to be found on scraps of paper and paper bags. Our team members have advanced degrees in public health, health education, medicine, counseling, and a number of other. Georgia along with 40 other books, the gainesville public library restricted this book to adults and is kept in a locked room. She is a pretty typical teenage girl in the late 1960sshes mostly concerned with school, boys, her hair, and fitting in okay, thats pretty typical for any decade when her fathers new job causes her family to move across the country, alice is thrust into a new school at a time when she is at best sensitive. An interview with the author who brought you go ask alice.
Discount prices on books by beatrice sparks, including titles like go ask alicejays journal anonymous diaries. See all books authored by beatrice sparks, including finding katie. The books homepage helps you explore earths biggest bookstore without ever leaving the comfort of your couch. Only parents can decide if they want their children to read go ask alice. So many people mistake the words they are reading as a tool to promote what the book is talking about. Go ask alice is still awash in controversy, 43 years after publication. Go ask alice anonymous diaries paperback january 1, 2006. Although go ask alice has been credited to an anonymous author since its publication, and was originally promoted as the real, albeit edited, diary of a real teenage girl, over time the book has come to be regarded by researchers as a fake memoir written by beatrice sparks, possibly with the help of one or more coauthors. Go ask alice beatrice sparks go ask alice is a popular young adult novel written by beatrice sparks january 15, 1917 may 25, 2012, an american therapist and mormon youth counselor. Beatrice sparks was an american therapist and mormon youth counselor who was known for producing books purporting to be the real diaries of troubled te. Go ask alice is a 1971 book generally viewed to have been written by the author beatrice sparks, however the novel was published originally under the pseudonym anonymous.
Dec 08, 2011 after reading go ask alice and preparing a research project on it, i feel that the biggest reason books are banned is because of depiction vs. A brief entry containing biographical information about beatrice matthews sparks and a critical introduction to. The novel is in epistolary format, being comprised entirely of diary entries and as such, was first thought to be an autobiography. Read on to learn more about each of nicholas sparks novels. In the 1970s, this fake diary scaredand temptedteenage.
Now, nicholas sparks has written over 20 books, including a walk to remember 1999, dear john 2006, and the choice 2016, all of which have been adapted for the big screen. Here youll find current best sellers in books, new releases in books, deals in books, kindle ebooks, audible audiobooks, and so much more. Its easy to argue that go ask alice is a terrible book. Beatrice mathews sparks was born on january 15,1918, in goldberg, idaho. The anonymous 1971 real diary of a teenage drug addict is unabashed, unadulterated, unapologetic. I have read a few other books by beatrice sparks like jays journal and go ask alice, which i enjoyed mostly because of the way she was able to capture the.
Go ask alice by anonymous beatrice sparks go ask alice. It can be difficult to place the book in a special category, but fictional autobiography is more or less adequate if the question is raised wether the book is fabricated or not. Go ask alice by anonymous beatrice sparks banned library. Go ask alice based on the anonymous diary of a teenage girl edited by dr. Jun 15, 2009 however, beatrice sparks, a psychologist, stepped forward as the editor of go ask alice.
It graphically describes the waking hell into which the main character descends, her heartfelt but futile battles to return home and stay clean, her pleas to god to. Go ask alice is based on the actual diary of a fifteenyearold drug user. Go ask alice by beatrice sparks as anonymous banned books. Go ask alice is still awash in controversy, 43 years after. Select any poster below to play the movie, totally free. Beatrice sparks is currently considered a single author. Yabeatrice sparks, author of go ask alice prenticehall, 1971, claims to have interviewed over teenagers in 67 cities before settling on the four included in voices. After several underground and some mainstream movementsthink of elvis presley. Beatrice sparks books list of books by author beatrice. The books deal with topical issues such as drug abuse, satanism, teenage pregnancy or aids, and are presented as cautionary tales. Go ask alice essay go ask alice, written by an anonymous author, is a diary kept by a fifteenyearold drug user. Beatrice sparks is a family and adolescent therapist who edited the diary that formed the basis for go ask alice, and has since edited many diaries on topics such as gangs, aids, and teen pregnancy in the 1988 annies baby. It started when she was served a soft drink laced with lsd in a da. The stories of four troubled teenagers as told in personal interviews, this contrived, melodramatic book.
Library journal an important book, this deserves as wide a readership as libraries can give it. Beatrice sparks books list of books by author beatrice sparks. The diary of anonymous, a teenager in foster care, and kim. She is a pretty typical teenage girl in the late 1960sshes mostly concerned with school, boys, her hair, and fitting in okay, thats pretty typical for any decade. Go ask alice was originally published by prentice hall in. However, beatrice sparks, a psychologist, stepped forward as the editor of go ask alice. Sparks modus operandi was writing real diaries from the accounts of troubled teens. Presented as a reallife diary published under the name anonymous, it was actually a cautionary tale written by the late beatrice sparks, a therapist and mormon youth counselor. All are remarkably similarunhappy, unloved, insecure, and. Go ask alice books often are written about real events and happenings so that other people can understand the experiences that they can relate and learn from of the author.
For our final project my group read the book go ask alice by anonymous. Go ask alice based on the anonymous diary of a teenage girl. Yet it was originally promoted as nonfiction, its still sold as by anonymous and the copy i have has this is alices true story on the cover plus the blurb on the back, the foreword and the psychologists comment at the back everything is still packaged to make out this is nonfiction. Go ask alice by beatrice sparks book report sparks alice. With william shatner, ruth roman, wendell burton, julie adams.
The 15 year old girl who is the author of the book is anonymous. It is, however, a highly personal and specific chronicle. The sobering message of go ask alice had a huge effect on my. It is not a definitive statement on the middleclass, teenage drug world. According to a book written by barretts brother scott a place in the sun. Jul 17, 2016 go ask alice by anonymous beatrice sparks. Michigan removed from the school library in kalkaska for language. These books included jays journal, another alleged diary of a real teenager that sparks was later. The author, through this book, doesnt wants his readers to look for advise in it, but to learn about the real world in which some teenagers have to live through. It shouldnt be censored i believe that go ask alice shouldnt be banned or censored because its moral outweighs the controversies surrounding it. Nonfiction materials gives people who read them an opportunity to show others that many events and happenings are shared on many levels. There is the possibility that beatrice sparks may well have made at least one other if not more of other moralistic books to warn teens about the dangers of drug.
While some people believe that go ask alice is not a true diary after all, but the wholly or partly fictional work of beatrice sparks one of the books editors and the author of several fictional teen diaries, the diary indisputably evokes the drug and sexsaturated atmosphere of the late 1960s. Additional resources for go ask alice by beatrice sparks. The story is a look into a teenage girls life as she gets mixed up in the tragic life of drugs. Go ask alice was a stark counterpoint to the freewheeling ethos of the early 70s that was ahead of its time, eventually fitting in perfectly with the war on drugs and d. It brings up issues that many people struggle with, and allows others to experience through the eyes of the.
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