User:Hannahhelms98/sandbox

Plot
Go Ask Alice is a novel about a typical, teenage girl who writes diary entries about her crazy life. In the beginning of the book, she is 15 years old and a very happy. Everything seems to be going well until her dad gets offered a job. They move somewhere (never mentioned) and that's where everything starts going downhill. She starts to diet and get self-conscious about her body. School becomes a drag and she doesn't ever seem to fit in. She starts to have bad school days. Her siblings start to have friends and she has none. Kids at school ignore her, she's gained 15 pounds and her hair is not cooperating. Mom and dad start giving her a hard time about everything. She finally finds a friend named Gerta but that relationship doesn't last long. She may get to go to gran's this summer. The teachers become annoying but it's ok because school is almost over. She meets another girl named Beth. This relationship lasts a little longer but it's still not long one. School gets a little better with Beth. School ends and Beth leaves for a summer camp while she goes to gran's. She meets Jill Peters downtown and gets invited to a party. At the party she gets introduced to her first kind of drug, LSD. She immediately gets addicted and wants to try pot. She feels happy and guilty. She gets introduced to speed. Gramps has a heart attack. She has ambivalent feelings against and for drugs. She goes back home and feels even more guilty. She starts using sleeping pills and tranquilizers. She meets Chris (a girl). Mom and dad keep trying to tell her to basically get her life together and even though they don't know about her drug abuse, they seem to know something is going on. She becomes good friends with Chris and gets a job. She starts taking dexies, smoking pot, and joints. She gets used by her boyfriend Richie. Her and Chris decide to run away to San Francisco and basically start over. Nothing seems to go well there and they eventually go back home at around Christmas. Everything goes back to normal until kids at school start to press her for drugs. They get addicted to drugs again. They get caught and get monitored for awhile. She randomly runs away and lives off of drugs. Things become worse and depressing. She goes home. She meets Joel and things go very well. She gets bullied a lot at school. She goes to the hospital with unclear symptoms. She gets checked into an insane asylum. She finally gets to go back home. Summer is about to end soon. Things start to get better. In the end she randomly dies with no evidence of how or why.

Major Themes
Yalin of Teen Ink concludes that this book is about drugs: "Drugs played a major role in the 70's..." Another subject that Yalin associates with "drugs" many times is "teenagers." Nicole of Teen Ink mentions "drugs" and "LSD" 8 times all together in their review. Bearnshaw of Teen Ink mentions "drugs", "pot", "coke", "acid", and "cigarettes" 23 times all together in their review. Nicole M. of Teen Ink mentions "drugs", "addiction", and "cocaine, tranquilizers, pills, dexies, speed, marijuana, acid, ecstasy, LSD, etc" 21 times all together in their review. Miranda of Teen Ink mentions "drugs", "destruction", "addiction", "LSD", and "problems" 8 times all together in their review. Mark of New York Times mentions "drug abuse", "drugs", "death", "problems", "horrible things", "fixes", "heroin", "addiction", "LSD", "cliches", "war", "pressure", and "moral concern" 25 times all together. Many times he describes things as "bad", "too much", "too little", "pressured", "cliche", and/or "terrible". I think that some of the major themes in Go Ask Alice are drugs, teenagers, addiction.

Style
Yalin of Teen Ink says that Go Ask Alice is a "diary of the narrator." They also say that the style of the book takes you with the narrator "everywhere she goes, on her highs and lows, her "good trips" and "bad trips" you're with her every step of the way." They feel that the "narrator's sending you a message" and this book is a "life lesson." SandraB of Teen Ink writes that the story was told to them through "diary entries." "It shows Alice's thoughts, feelings and course of action. It gave you a certain feel as to who Alice really was through her struggle...it glossed over other characters' backgrounds, only giving a small amount of information." They say that it is written in "events." Swatson12 of Teen Ink states that this book was "written anonymously" and that it is a "diary of a teenage girl." They also state that "the diary entries span over about two years of her life." Notebooklady of Teen Ink says "There were words and phrases that I'd never even heard before." Miranda of Teen Ink tells us that this book is "anonymous", "non-fiction" and "didn't have an author." Anonymous of Teen Ink informs us that this book is non-fiction and is written in "a series of diary entries." Mark of New York Times states that this book is written in "short, diary-entry chapters."

Publication History
Yalin of Teen Ink tells us that Go Ask Alice was "published in the early 70's." Swatson12 of Teen Ink and Mark of New York Times give us a little more detail when they tell us "it was first printed in 1971" and that it "was published in 1971." Notebooklady of Teen Ink informs us that the [copyright date is 1971] and that it "is almost 50 years old."

Reception
Yalin of Teen Ink has given us a lot of positive feedback. Some things they said were "amazing book", "strongly encourage people to read this book", "It's a life lesson", "read this book", and "one of the best books I have ever read". "I strongly encourage people to read this book" and "you will gain a lot of knowledge and hopefully make the right decision..." were some of the last comments they made about the book. One thing SandraB did not like about this book was that "it glossed over other characters' backgrounds, only giving a small amount of information". They said they were "affected by it" and "who can deal with the essence of ones internal terror and helpless addiction". "It was completely unexpected and made me feel as if there were no words to display my shock. I will always remember "Go Ask Alice"...a true, intense tale with events that some could only imagine" is how they described Go Ask Alice. Nicole of Teen Ink has many positive comments such as "I would recommend this book to teens and adults...I think it should be required reading in high schools...It is a real eye-opener to anyone who is already struggling and for those who may be confronted with the option to use...This book is extremely intense and opens the reader's mind to the devastating effects of drugs...such vivid and realistic detail that her story comes alive". Bearnshaw of Teen Ink had both positive and negative comments. They described it as "great book", "really good" and "really exciting and adventurous". [I recommend it to anybody who likes excitement, adventures, and mystery in their books]. What they didn't like was that "it didn't use the real names of the people who were actually in the book" and that "in the back of the book it basically tells a whole bunch of information of the story". Emilia of Teen Ink said "this book made me acknowledge how hard is the life for drug-dependent teens...wonderful and realistic story tells us how dark one's world can become when using them...definitely a worthwhile reading piece of non-fiction literature, not only for teens who may identify or learn from the story, but also for parents who may discover how drugs are seen and lived from an adolescent's perspective". Swanson12 describes this book as "striking" and an "absolutely terrifying, hard-core reality". They end with "There is more to the world of drugs than simply getting high; there is a greater universe in which anything horrible can happen. They will clench the user in their grip until they have annihilated the user's life. Every teenager should read this book at least once because the truth about drugs is so vividly revealed". Notebooklady of Teen Ink describes the book as "vivid". They also said "this book changed my perspective, I felt pity instead of unease" and "it is...a fascinating read". Nicole M of Teen Ink describes this book as "heartbreaking", "incredible", "breathtaking", "a warning" a "wake-up call", and a "difficult lesson". They also said "I would recommend this...I learned some of life's most difficult lessons vicariously through her life...has the ability to save countless lives worldwide". Miranda of Teen Ink wrote "she inspired me...I loved this book. I learned so much from her. I want other people to be inspired by her. I loved knowing how she felt and how her days went...I hope you decide to read this book. I enjoyed it and I know you will too". Anonymous of Teen Ink describes this book as "strong", "painful", "well-written", "emotional", and "quite destructive". Mark of New York Times describes the book as "bad", "palatable", "poorly written", "incredible", "cliche", "problematic", a "moral concern" and a "failed attempt".

Awards and Nominations
Emilia of Teen Ink tells us that Go Ask Alice has "more than five million copies sold" but Swatson12 of Teen Ink and Mark of New York Times tells us that "more than four million copies have been sold".