And the kicker is that its supposedly ripped from the diary of an actual teenaged girl. According to the publisher, avon flare books, the manuscript of go ask alice, published in 1971, was based on the actual diary of a 15yearold drug user. Once thought to be nonfiction, go ask alice is categorized as fiction now. The controversy about the book s authorship has done nothing to negatively impact the book s popularity. The second oldest works featured on the list were written by mark twain. In case you arent familiar with it, its supposedly an anonymous diary found by the parents of a fifteen year old drug user after she. In 1993, go ask alice was removed from the wall township. Go ask alice is a 1971 fiction book about a teenage girl who develops a drug addiction at age. The list go ask alice has been one of the most frequently challenged books, according to the american library associations frequently challenged books of the 21st century list, since its publication in 1971, for content relating to drugs, sexual explicitness, offensive language, and inappropriate themes for the target age group frequently challenged 1.
However, the american library association challenges the book s suitability for young audiences because of its language and depictions of sex and drug use. All picture source titles are hyperlinked to the pages that they appear on this site. Go ask alice i admit right off that i have not read this book, and i dont plan to. Jun 15, 2012 fortyseven years ago, alice crimmins was front page news. Every year, the office for intellectual freedom oif compiles a list of the top 10 most challenged books in order to inform the public about censorship in libraries and schools. Grace brought it with her from the great society when she joined up with jefferson airplane in 1966. Alice met fawn at the store and she invited alice to come over and go swimming in their pool. Go ask alice is still awash in controversy, 43 years. The harry potter controversy it will take thousands of dollars and years worth of therapy to help your children recover from seeing this movie. The debate over the banning of some books in american schools. The book was number 8 on the most challenged list in 2001 and up to number 6 in 2003.
Rosea this book would look very different if it could have included firsthand accounts telling us how people labeled hermaphrodites in the. Some of the recurring reasons for it being banned are language, sexual content, and drug use. The queries are representative of those emailed by anonymous visitors to the go ask alice web site. Tweetevery year, the american library association compiles a list of the top ten most frequently challenged books, using its database and media reports. In the 1970s, this fake diary scaredand temptedteenage girls all over america. A 1978 article from the librarians game titled go ask alive banned. In a close vote 43, the school board of richmond, british columbia has banned the controversial book go ask alice as encouraging experimentation with drugs and sex and having no. Attributed to anonymous, the book is in diary form, and was originally presented as being the edited real diary of the unnamed teenage p. First video, so sorry for all the editing mistakes. Rowlings response to the nagini controversy isnt going. The internet accused alice goffman of faking details in her. The book was written in 1967 and the song was originally written around 1965. The novel has numerous references to sex, heavy drug use, and teen pregnancy causing libraries and schools across the country to ban the novel from their. In case you arent familiar with it, its supposedly an anonymous diary found by the.
Apr 07, 2015 on american library associations lists of most banned literature, go ask alice came in as number 25 between years 19901999, number 18 between years 20002009, and in 2003 alone, it ranked number 6 frequently challenged books. May 24, 2012 alice eve explains the difference between american and british men. The song white rabbit predates the book go ask alice. Its topics relating to things such as witchcraft have generated controversy. Titillated horror, for the young reader, at the books dramatic. Rowling was the most challenged work from 2000 to 2009. Go ask alice was first published in 1971 and has since become one of the most banned books of all time. The diary begins right before alices fifteenth birthday. Go ask alice, live aradio, live set, 2015 addeddate 20150612 10. As powerfuland as timelytoday as ever, go ask alice remains the definitive book on the horrors of addiction. The celebration is typically held during the last week of september, and it is meant to draw national attention to the harms of censorship. Go ask alice but not about transsexuals lives and history. 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. From the moment it was first published in 1865, new copies have never stopped being printed to this very day.
Sep 09, 20 banned books week is an annual event celebrating the freedom to read. It was reported as unsold and destroyed to the publisher and neither the author nor the publisher has received any payment for this stripped book. Jan 10, 2019 according to the american library association, the great gatsby tops the list of books that have been challenged or faced potential bans over the years. Any intention that go ask alice was an antidrug novel was lost on us. The reader has to be mature, but the book should not be shot down because some people are too immature to read it. It sits at number 18 on the american library associations list of 100 most frequently challenged books from 20002009. Go ask alice by beatrice sparks goodreads share book. Michigan removed from the school library in kalkaska for language. If the book doesnt make strict chronological sense, it does obey emotional logic. Im now a mum and i decided a couple of years ago to read the book myself. Lines from go ask alice that, in hindsight, should have tipped me. Jan 04, 2008 do you know anything about the book go ask alice.
Go ask alice was written over 30 years ago is it still relevant today. Search the history of over 424 billion web pages on the internet. Go ask alice is the firstperson tale of an accidental downward spiral into drugs, alcohol, unwanted sex, and impoverished living. Leading up to banned books week 2012, ala will highlight one book from its. Parents and school boards were worried that this book would encourage teens and preteens to try out drugs. Everyone who encounters go ask alice goes through the same four stages. Ernest hemingway declared that all modern american literature comes from one book by mark twain. It graphically describes the waking hell into which the main character descends, her heartfelt but futile battles to. I know the book is over 40 years old but go ask alice really feels it. Based on a 15yearolds diary, go ask alice is the intimate account of one girls fatal journey into the world of drug addiction.
Go ask alice is a diary novel of a girl, but the reader is never given the authors name. On july 14, 1965 the children went missing from their firstfloor apartment in the kew gardens. American library associations lists of most banned literature, go. Download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets. Anatomy of a book controversy by wayne homstad, 1995 online. Go ask alice 1973 offers an antidrug message with a side. Georgia along with 40 other books, the gainesville public library restricted this book to adults and is kept in a locked room. A defense of the right of members of an oppressed class to speak for themselves katrina c. My very go ahead principal read it to the whole school in assembly over the course of a couple of weeks. The poor girl in this story gets hooked on acid, which is possible to do, i know people who have been there before, and trys so hard to get past it. In 1973, a television movie adaptation of go ask alice was aired as an abc movie of the week entry.
Go ask alice 1973 offers an antidrug message with a. 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. Salinger has been the center of controversy since its publication in 1951. Some people maintain that alice in wonderland can only have been written by an author with considerable hallucinogenic mushroom experience under their belt. Go ask alice, a diary of a teenage girl who fell into drug use and committed suicide, is the most frequently censored book in high school. Go ask alice has been around for decades, and is even being used as reading material in high schools. Five books whose authorship has been disputed short stack.
This is my second read of go ask alice, and i loved it just as much the second time around. The sobering message of go ask alice had a huge effect on my lifeand then i found out the real story. For our final project my group read the book go ask alice by anonymous. Does the author understand what its like to be a teenager and address the problems that young people have. An award winning novel by the name of go ask alice did that. By 2000, the american library associations list of the most. Created during the height of the drug era, the girl could be anyone from this time who found him or herself seduced by the mindaltering affects of.
Years before james frey and the million little pieces scandal, there was go ask alice and the theories about who wrote the book. Through out the history of film, many productions have been made based on best selling novels. Go ask alice is a 1971 fiction book about a teenage girl who develops a drug addiction at age 15 and runs away from home on a journey of selfdestructive escapism. Feb 07, 2016 go ask alice is one of the most banned books of all time. Top 10 most challenged books lists advocacy, legislation. In this lesson, well learn some of the reasons why it has been one of the most. It was launched in 1982 in response to a sudden surge in the number of challenges to books in schools, bookstores and libraries. Alice alone by phyllis reynolds naylor is a amazing book its about a girl name alice was a funny, vulnerable voice expresses every girl fears about what is normal in an imperfect world. Go ask alice is an amazing story that is passed on a real persons diary. 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. Alice continues to be a refreshingly honest character with realistic adolescent highs and lows. Go ask alice by anonymous if you purchased this book without a cover you should be aware that this book is stolen property. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading after this. Oh, occasionally someone would dredge up the questions about go ask alice just how did a teenager with such an eventful, drugfilled life have the time to write a diary at all.
List of most commonly challenged books in the united states. Go ask alice, a real diary in print for four decades. Go ask alice, an information service originally available only to columbia university students but later accessible to others through its web site, takes book form in this eyeopening collection of questions and answers. Go ask alice is still awash in controversy, 43 years after. The book that was at the heart of this controversy is go ask alice. Adventures of huckleberry finn is required reading in over 70 percent of. Go ask alice go ask alice is a 1971 fiction book about a teenage girl who develops a drug habit at age 15 and runs away from home on a journey of selfdestructive escapism. Books similar to go ask alice goodreads share book. Shes kind of shy too and prefers books to people just as. Go ask alice is written as the diary of a fifteenyearold girls daytoday struggle with drug addiction.
The list included such books as the adventures of huckleberry finn by mark twain, the diary of a young girl by anne frank, black like me by john howard griffin, the scarlet letter by nathaniel hawthorne, the catcher in the rye by j. While nearly everyone can recount the events of the fictional tale, few people know the true story behind the book. Alice in wonderland is one of the most famous childrens stories in the world. Go ask alice is a fiction work written anonymously and first published in 1971. American libraries canadian libraries universal library community texts project gutenberg biodiversity heritage library childrens library. Or maybe you saw the 1973 madefortv movie based on it costarring star treks william shatner. In that case, the school board attempted to ban a number of books because they were anti american, antichristian, antisemitic, and just plain filthy, including titles such as slaughterhouse five, the naked ape, down these mean streets, best short stories of negro writers, and go ask alice.
Beatrice sparks, whom is known to the general public as the editor of go ask alice, populated the false impression that this book was based off of the diary of a. Rowlings response to the nagini controversy isnt going over well with harry potter fans on twitter. Between 1965 and 1977, alice crimmins was twice tried for the murders of her children, fiveyearold eddie jr. Even though books continue to be banned, part of the. First published in 1971, go ask alice is a controversial book involving. Did she or didnt she the case of alice crimmins 47 years.
D espite the popularity of go ask alice, the mystery of the diarists identity has never been truly solved, and none of her relatives have ever come forward to claim a share of the royalties. The american library association listed go ask alice as number 25 on its list of the 100 most frequently challenged books of the 1990s. According to the ala, the most serious challenge to the novel came in 1987 from the baptist college in charleston, south carolina, which objected to language and sexual references in the book. Kris from sf, ca this song was not written about the book go ask alice. Go ask alice is still awash in controversy, 43 years after publication go ask alice is still awash in controversy, 43 years after publication go ask alice was published anonymously in 1971, but. On the american library association ala list of the 100 most frequently. Go ask alice is still awash in controversy, 43 years after publication. Toklas truly stirred the pot when she included a recipe for hashish fudge in her memoircumcookbook. The story is a look into a teenage girls life as she gets mixed up in the tragic life of drugs. The american library association condemns censorship and works to ensure free access to information. Only parents can decide if they want their children to read go ask alice. Authentic, tragic tale of teen drug addiction a classic. Dec 20, 1981 a censorial spirit is at work in the united states, and for the past year or so it has focused more and more on books.
See a complete list of the characters in go ask alice and indepth analyses of alice, diary, parents, and joel. The narrator unknowingly takes lsd acid at a party and has a great trip. 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. Efforts to remove certain titles from school and public libraries, from.
In the 1970s, this fake diary scaredand temptedteenage girls all. Go ask alice, published in 1971, was the fictional account of a young womans spiral into drug abuse, written in an unsparing diary format. Poignant and unflinchingly honest, her story is a tragedy that is repeated in towns and cities across the country. Fever book burned described the hysteria rising around the literary controversy.
I first heard of go ask alice when still in school in the 1980s. Does it change the way you feel about the book to think that it might not be a true story. But those of you old enough to remember the latter portion of the 70s might remember that beatrice sparks, the editor of go ask alice, also edited a bunch of other alarmist books aimed at teens, all supposedly taken from teenagers diaries. A bestseller in the 1970s and still in print, it is supposedly the diary of an anonymous teenage girl who died of a drug overdose. Every year, the american library association compiles a list of the top 10 most challenged books, using its database and media reports. Read a plot overview of the entire book or a chapter by chapter summary and analysis. Though purported to be the real diary of a 15yearold girl who became addicted to drugs during the 1960s, go ask alice is actually a work of fiction.
The dispute over the books authorship does not seem to have played any role in these censorship battles. In the 1970s, this fake diary scaredand temptedteenage. I am not sure why it is called go ask alice, there is a small encounter with a girl named alice but nothing worthy of naming the book after her although i did momentarily wonder if the alice she seen in the book, was indeed our narrator thinking of herself as another person the book is sad. She lives just three blocks from us and her name is beth baum. A dark and edgy firstperson cautionary tale about how one girls seemingly minor choices quickly spiraled into a life as a sex worker. Alice goffman conducted some amazing ethnographic research, and her book is almost entirely true, not to mention quite important.
The book was purported to be the real journal of a 15yearold girl who was the alice of the title. Go ask alice by anonymous beatrice sparks go ask alice. Posted by jmariedavis december 8, 2011 leave a comment on go ask alice. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading go ask alice. Throughout the whole book, it brought the readers attention by giving us enough details. A personal opinion on the reasons why the book go ask alice should. The book that defined my teen anxiety turned out to be a lie. In a 1995 village voice column for banned books week, nat hentoff. The likely authoring of the book by one or more adults rather than by an unnamed teenage girl has not been an issue in censorship disputes. Go ask alice by anonymous banned book but was it real. These loose ends never got resolved, and over the next few days they led to further calls and texts and emails with goffman, which in turn led me to two conclusions. Such an examination also reveals why book controversies in particular are difficult to resolve. Novel versus the movie adaption of go ask alice essay. 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.
On the american library association ala list of the 100 most frequently challenged books of the 1990s, go ask alice was ranked at number 25. Title stance on the book 3 articles it was banned challenged in 2001, 2002, 2004, 2008, and 2009 it was banned usually in schools and libraries title. I think this book writes in a interesting way while it teaches us a life lesson by expressing in diary form. The bible says that in the end times man will call good evil and evil good. It was a brave decision on her part, but the text always stayed with me. A shocking true story for fans of reasons why kindle edition by anonymous. 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. Attributed to anonymous, the book is in diary form, and was originally presented. Lyrics for white rabbit by jefferson airplane songfacts. So go ask alice is the story of a young woman falling into a spiral of drugs, depression, and debauchery after an accidental exposure to drugs. Heres where youll find analysis about the book as a whole. With over a million copies in print, this book has become a classic. There is an alice in the book go ask alice, but shes a minor character mentioned in only one paragraph.
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