Go Ask Alice remains one of the most challenged and banned books, it appeared at #25 of the top Banned Book list of the 90s and #18 of the 2000s. It has been banned from numerous schools and libraries since originally published in 1971 and continues to be challenged.
Read for: Mount TBR & Banned Books Week
Synopsis: "A teen plunges into a downward spiral of addiction in this classic cautionary tale.
January 24th
After you've had it, there isn't even life without drugs....
It started when she was served a soft drink laced with LSD in a dangerous party game. Within months, she was hooked, trapped in a downward spiral that took her from her comfortable home and loving family to the mean streets of an unforgiving city. It was a journey that would rob her of her innocence, her youth -- and ultimately her life."
My Review: I picked this book up for banned book week because it is rather high on the list of top banned books, and I had never read it before. It is interesting to see the narrating character go from such highs to such lows and back up before the drug use even started. I am not too keen on the fact that she never really took any responsibility for her actions as the journal progressed, she blamed her drug use on others saying she was forced into it. I also found it odd that she had several periods that she abstained from using but never had any issues quitting cold turkey. Obviously, this is meant as a cautionary tale and put the fear of drugs and 'bad kids' in the younger readers. I have never experienced any of these things so I can't talk to how real it all is but it would be a good book to use for discussion but clearly not an all encompassing book to refer to.
My Rating: I can understand what the author was trying to do here, I don't know how effective it has been though. Personally I do not enjoy reading books with drug use in them but pushed to read this book for banned book week. I give it a rating of Two Paws and a Stump Wag.
This book obviously contains a lot of drug use, explicit language and depictions of sex and rape. For me it is just plain unappealing to read but not worth banning. Would I want my child reading it, not until I felt he personally was ready to read it and with open discussions, but that doesn't mean that it should be removed from other kids' abilities to read.
I can’t decide if I’ll read this one. I’ve eyed it for a long time but the subject matter doesn’t interest me.
ReplyDeleteI really wasn't too keen on it, I read it and could really give or take it. But I am glad I did read it in case Munchkin has to encounter it in future years.
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