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Go Ask Alice (Turtleback School & Library) | Anonymous

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This is considered an urban modern day classic, it‘s a book I never read before. First written in the late 60‘s & published in 1971 it‘s debatable whether it‘s actually NF or fiction. Regardless, I found this book compelling & effective. Written in diary format by an anonymous 15 yr old suburban teenager who quickly spirals from a “normal” teen to a strung out runaway after discovering acid. While some readers found her transformation 👇🏽

Cinfhen
skeptical, I thought the diary read authentic & true. The wishes & dreams of an innocent teen (especially pre-internet) and then the intense euphoria and highs & lows that strangle and confuse an addict. In 2021 it‘s opioids in 1971 it was LSD. 3y

Cinfhen This was my final prompt for #PoPSugar #ByAnonymous @BarbaraBB @KarenUK @Megabooks @Kalalalatja @4thhouseontheleft 3y

TheBookHippie I read it in the 70s it‘s fairly accurate to truth back then. One of my favorites. (edited) 3y

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Cinfhen Do you think it comes from an actual diary @TheBookHippie ?? 3y

AlaMich I read this as a young teenager and I think it sort of low-key traumatized me. I was a very anxious kid and I was terrified of the same thing happening to me (button, button), which I suppose was the author‘s goal. (edited) 3y

Megabooks It was written by a Mormon youth counselor. She wrote all the “anonymous” diaries in this series. https://www.google.com/search?rlz=1CDGOYI_enUS689US689&hl=en-US&q=Beatrice+Spark... (edited) 3y

Megabooks Sorry for the long link. You should check out the movie version! It used to be included in Amazon prime video. Anyway, I enjoyed this until I found out it was fake propaganda. 3y

AlaMich The author of the article in my link is about my age and her description of the effect the book had on her is spot-on for me as well. Yeah, I have a BONE to pick with that woman!!! https://electricliterature.com/go-ask-alice-hoax-teen-anxiety-drugs/ (edited) 3y

CarolynM Like @TheBookHippie I read it as a young teen in the 70's. I believed it to be true at the time and it certainly felt real and accurate (to my very limited and immature understanding) but like @Megabooks I've subsequently seen articles outing the real author. I don't think it being fiction makes it any less powerful as a cautionary tale but I hate that it was presented as true when it wasn't. 3y

Megabooks @CarolynM well put Carolyn!! I didn‘t read it until I was an adult, so it had less of an impact on me, but I hate feeling manipulated by falsehoods. I can see why she did it because it makes the book more powerful and believable, and I guess the point was to scare kids straight. 3y

Cinfhen Loved that article @AlaMich I agree @Megabooks @CarolynM it‘s disingenuous and manipulative ~ it still would have been compelling as fiction 3y

BarbaraBB I read this when I was very young (10? 11?) and afterwards I decided I would never do drugs. I indeed hardly did so in my life so maybe the book did its job - or common sense. But I am shocked to learn who wrote it AND that she wrote a whole series of anonymous diaries @Megabooks ! The others haven‘t been translated in Dutch so I didn‘t have access to them at the time - fortunately. I am allergic to propaganda 😉 (edited) 3y

BarbaraBB And congrats for finishing #pop21! I still need a few and this prompt is the hardest I think! 3y

Megabooks @BarbaraBB yes, I tried to read another, but it was after I found out the author‘s identity, and tbh, it wasn‘t as good, so I didn‘t finish. 🤷🏻‍♀️ I think I missed out by not reading this as a pre-teen! 😂 3y

KarenUK I‘ve not read this, but so interesting to hear about all your experiences with this book (and the subsequent discovery of who actually wrote it.) At the bookstore it is categorized as YA fiction, and still appears on some school reading lists in our county in FL. 3y

alisiakae Congrats for finishing #pop21!! I read this in middle school in the 90s, and it also left an impact, although I don‘t think I ever took it to be nonfiction. I can even remember where I read it (school library, checked it out and started reading immediately) 3y

KarenUK And congrats on completing #pop21 !!!! I‘ve still got 6 to go I think….. including this prompt. I was thinking of reading this one that was originally published anonymously, as I really enjoyed her ‘Enchanted April‘

Elizabeth and Her German Garden

Cinfhen Interesting @KarenUK about how it‘s shelved at B&N 🤓Thanks for accompanying me on the #PoP21 journey @4thhouseontheleft @BarbaraBB @Megabooks I still have 3 from the advanced prompts to go 😝 3y

Megabooks Sorry I didn‘t congratulate you right off!! Congratulations!! Way to go!!! 🥳🥳🥳 I‘m the opposite of you: I‘m finished with the advanced but still have three of the regular prompts to go. 3y

fredamans I LOVED this book!!! 3y

Cinfhen No worries @Megabooks and congrats to you for completing the advanced prompts ♥️ 3y

Cinfhen I was definitely hooked on the book @fredamans BUT I feel a bit deceived ~ it was more compelling as a work of NF 3y

fredamans @Cinfhen I agree with you there! 3y

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