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The Book GO ASK ALICE is about Alice, an American girl.
Alice is fifeteen years old. She is a normal girl with normal behaviour. She loves Roger from her school, but he doesn't even take notice of her. Alice hates herself and she is bored by everything and everyone and doesn't even go to parties when she's invited. At this time, her parents want to move because her father has the chance to get a job in --. Alice is very happy of this, but a bit sad because they have to leave their grandparents, who Alice calls Gramps and Gran.
The first time at the new school is a shock for Alice. She can't find friends, whereas her brother and her sister already got to know kids in their age. After some time Alice gets to know Gerda, but her parents don't want Alice to meet with her. She has troubles with her family and can't stand her mother.
After a while, Alice gets to know Beth, who is Jewish. She is very nice, and they have a very strong friendship until the summer holidays, because Beth has to go on a summer camp, and Alice is sad of this. She decides to spend the holidays in her hometown with Gran and Gramps. There she meets Jill, who invites her to a party. At the party, Alice is unknownly introduced to LSD, also called acid. She likes the trip and it was a wonderful experience for her. After this, Alice tries to convince herself that drugs are bad for her for two days when she meets Bill. He introduces her to speed, which she likes, too. She thinks that life is more bearable with drugs. Three days after this, Gramps has a little heart attack. Alice worries about him and has to help Gran.
A few days later she slept with Bill. Some days later, Roger is visiting her, and Alice feels very uncomfortable because she slept with Bill, and therefore, she is taking pills to feel better.
At this time, Beth came home from the camp, but she has met some other Jewish people, who she is hanging around now.
Alices goes home again and meets Chris and some friends of her. Chris and Alice get good friends and start selling drugs to others to get money, but they get some problems with Ted and Richie, Chris' friends.
Alice and Chris want to go to San Francisco to get work.
In San Francisco, it's quite bad for them. They've no work and just a small room they have to share. But finally, both find a job. Alice works in some crappy little lingerie store, and Chris is working in Sheilas boutique.
Alice gets more and more homesick and quits her job. She finds a new one in Mr. Mellanis shop, which she likes very much, and Mr. Mellani is a very friendly man.
The two girls are nearly every night at Sheilas place, where they can take drugs. But there where some problems, and Alice and Chris decided to open a shop in another part of the town, called Berkeley. They work very hard and finally, they open their small shop. Many kids come in and hang around and talk with the two girls about the problems. At least, Alice and Chris can't stand this anymore and fly home.Alice gets off drugs. She likes the atmosphere at home and the incoming Christmas time. In school again, it's horrifying for Alice. Nobody except Chris talks to her and everybody knows that she was a pusher. Lane, a drug taking boy, is hunting and terrifying her very bad. Alice and Chris get on drugs again, but they get busted in Chris house. Alice can't stand it anymore at home and so she hitch-hikes to Denver with some other kids. In Denver, she has to sleep in the park a few nights and gets very ill. She goes to the nearest church and asks for help. They send her to a helping organisation. There, she gets to know Doris, who had a lot of problems at home and is also living on the street.
Alice is very ill and she is hungry and dirty. She has hallucinations and is nearly to die, but finally, an old priest she knows calls her parents and they get her.
At home, live is getting better and better for Alice, altough kids at school treat and persecute her. Alice is straight and gets to know Joel in the library. She falls in love with him. But one day somebody played a trick on Alice and put her on acid. It's a bad trip and Alice has hallucinations for a few days. After this, she has to go to a lunatic asylum for kids. She is very frightened and has to stay there for a few weeks. But after all, she is allowed to go home.
She is very straight and the kids at school stopped threatening her. The family makes a short trip to New York, and when they get home again, Alice even finds a friend, called Fawn.
She is happy with her live and in love with Joel. Alice decides to stop keeping a diary.
Three weeks after this, her parents find Alice dead. Nobody knew why she died.
THE END
My personal opinion: I liked reading GO ASK ALICE very much. It wasn't too difficult to read, altough there was lots of American English in it. It's written like a diary and really very interesting. So, if anybody wants to inform about drugs and drug addiction, he/she should read GO ASK ALICE. Very interesting.
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