'Go Ask Alice' Debunked at Snopes.com

I really believe you all are missing the point, here. As an English teacher and avid book reader who is trying to instill the love of reading within all my kids, this book is at least acurate in its portrayal of the dangers of drugs and their harm and depricative effects. Who cares if this book is actually written from the first-hand accounts of some random teenager? The point is that teenagers, still today in 2007, can and do identify and relate to the issues developed within the story. As long as kids can see the dangers, who cares who wrote or created the text? I just want to get kids to read. And, this is certainly something that gets their attention. The contemporary equivalent is "The Perks of Being a Wallflower," which my students absolutely love. Isn't this the point of literature...to get folks reading? Reading is absolutely proven to develop the mind and creativity. Heck, Shakespeare, if you believe in him, made up--to some degree--most of, or at least parts of, his works. Don't you believe that the themes and motifs he developed are still relevant today? Why are we so harsh with our contemporary adolescent novelists? And, if you're still upset because her books might be labeled or classified in the "non-fiction" section of your library, you might want to check where some other "non-fiction" books are located--"The Education of Little Tree," "A Million Little Pieces," oh, and watch out, "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings." I know I'll hear it on the last one, but Maya would have to have the world's best memory to recall all of that information. Seriously, if you want today's youth to pay attention to a story, then they really need to believe that it's real and could happen to them. I reiterate, a good book that delivers a good message. Cheers. And, I'm now done with my rant or rave or whatever it is I just did. Perhaps I'll copy and paste to the Amazon review message board.

I think the intrigue is what interests readers and writers on the 'Go Ask Alice' subject. If 'Jay's Journal' was even slightly based on a real person then it is entirely possible that 'Alice' was, too. If so, then how much was true and how much was fabrication for dramatic purposes (and selling purposes)? Perhaps the entire diary was invented. But if not, then there's a natural curiosity to discover the real people involved. But since nobody has stepped up to convincingly claim personal knowledge of the subjects in the diary, after all this time, it's most likely that the whole thing is a fiction.

I agree, Dharma. I remember reading this book many many years ago, and it had a deep effect on me. It made me feel terrible that a family lost their daughter.
I was appalled to learn this was fiction, only because I felt 'toyed' with, manipulated. If you want to write a fictional story but loosely base it on troubled teens you've heard of or know, then just SAY that!
Don't add pages of manipulation of how police were called, and there was 'nothing anyone could do.'
Shame on that author.

I felt the same way about "The Blair Witch Project"'s promotion. I love the movie yes, as I like the actors, its scary and very well done. But I thought it over-the-top despicable how the filmmakers put up a 'MISSING' photo on the internet, and pages upon pages of the weepy parents hunting for their lost children.
Real kids go missing every day, and actions like that fake site is like a slap in the face to all of them.



"I'd say this cloud is Cumulo Nimbus."
"Didn't he discover America?"
"Penfold, shush."