Go Ask Alice

Go Ask Alice

By Anonymous               Edited by Beatrice Sparks            

Simon Pulse (1971)         ISBN: 0671664581

Go Ask Alice, edited by Beatrice Sparks, is the diary of an anonymous fifteen year old girl. Like many teenage girls, she struggles with her popularity, weight, and boys. One night, the cool crowd invites the narrator to a party and she experiences an unknowing, yet pleasurable high after consuming a drink laced with LSD. As the summer progresses, she becomes more and more addicted to a variety of drugs. As her addiction intensifies, her writing transforms into detailed remembrances of her drug trips. Eventually, the drugs overpower the diarist--she leaves her home and her loving family only to endure the harsh and unforgiving city streets and eventually loses her life.

Quantitative: Lexile Level--1010L; ATOS--5.7

Qualitative: Due to Go Ask Alice’s diary format, students may need to adjust to the structure and style of writing. However, all readers--reluctant ones included--find the story moving, compelling, and educational. Students will struggle with the cultural references and slang given that Go Ask Alice is set during the 1960s. Despite a need to scaffold for lacking background and cultural knowledge, the book’s access points and themes still resonate with readers today. Although ATOS recommends this book for 5th graders, Go Ask Alice would be appropriately placed on a 7th-10th grade reading list. Upperclassmen and adults even appreciate the novel’s value.

Content Area: English; Peer Resource; Health--Drugs.

Curriculum Suggestions: Because of the content, Go Ask Alice would be an excellent addition to any English, Peer Resource or Health class outside reading list. As the CCSS push thematic lessons, teachers could coordinate cross-curricular units that touch on addiction or even the 1960s counter culture. The journal structure of the novel could also be a means of encouraging journal writing. Students could take a secondary source on an event and convert it into a fictional firsthand account. Additionally, the novel could be used to question authenticity. A mini-research assignment involving the questionable non-fiction origin of Go Ask Alice could be a way to discuss credibility and an author’s intent.

Common Core Standards: RL.9/10.3, 5; W.9/10.3,10.

Additional/Digital Content:

• The House that Alice Built-- http://www.scribd.com/doc/29873595/Go-Ask-Alice-Lit-Crit-The-House-That-Alice-Built

• Establishing a Genre-- http://www.nytimes.com/books/98/11/15/reviews/981115.15oppenht.html

• Snopes.com: Fact or Fiction-- http://www.snopes.com/language/literary/askalice.asp

• ALA’s 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books-- http://www.ala.org/bbooks/100-most-frequently-challenged-books-1990%E2%80%931999

• Go Ask Alice full movie--http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JMM3X3hqj3w

Personal Thoughts: In my experience, students that read Go Ask Alice love it. The gaps in cultural and background knowledge do not leave them unsatisfied with the content and message of the story. The fact is that students--no matter what the era--will experiment with drug use and sex. This book does not encourage this type of behavior, but rather serves as a cautionary tale.

*Meets the "Reading for Fun HS/MS" Requirement

Rats Saw God

Rats Saw God

By Rob Thomas Simon Pulse (1996) ISBN: 9780689802072

Being stoned on a daily basis was not how Steve York envisioned his senior year. Living in San Diego with his mother, Steve learns that he is danger of not graduating despite his well-documented and acknowledged intellect. During his junior year Steve fell in love, fell out of love, and failed his English class as a result. His guidance counselor, Mr. DeMouy, believes in Steve’s academic talent and asks that he write a 100-page essay in order to retrieve those lost English credits. The story flashes between Steve’s time living in Houston, Texas with his father, a former astronaut, to his current living situation in San Diego. Through his writing, Steve realizes his own contribution to his damaged relationship with his father and how he is the only one that can turn it around.

Quantitative: Lexile Level--970; ATOS--7.4

Qualitative: Even though the ATOS recommends this book for junior high students, the content and interest level is geared towards high school students. The novel touches on issues like underage drinking, drug use, academic integrity, sexual content and the allusion to a student/teacher sexual relationship. Additionally, the novel makes cultural references not only significant to mid-1990s (like Kurt Cobain’s suicide), but also historical references such as the first moon landing and Richard Nixon’s influence over the Vietnam War. Students reading this book today may get lost or confused by these references, but it does offer opportunities for research. Furthermore, the structure of the novel adds to the text’s complexity. Flashbacks, no chapters, change in font, figurative language, and vocabulary all contribute to the depth of the novel.

Content Area: English; Health--Divorce; Health--Drugs; Health--Relationships; Social Science--U.S. History

Curriculum Suggestions: Although this wouldn’t be a book that I would recommend to read as a class, it would make a good addition to any outside reading list, specifically in Health. The book’s primary focus is on a young man coming to terms with his upbringing. It could be an excellent “case study” for a health class examining healthy approaches for students dealing with divorce, rejection, first love, and substance abuse. Additionally, it would be fun to have students curate their own reading list with similar themes to this book. Books like Perks of Being a Wallflower, The Spectacular Now, or Fat Kid Rules the World.

Common Core Standards: RST 11/12.1-5

Additional/Digital Content:

• Lesson Plans--http://www.bookrags.com/lessonplan/rats-saw-god/

• Rob Thomas official site--http://www.slaverats.com/

*Meets the “Reading for Pleasure HS/MS” requirement