Go Ask Alice

Author: Anonymous
Genre: YA Nonfiction

This book is the diary of a teenage girl who becomes addicted to drugs.  It starts when she unwittingly has LSD slipped into her soda in a dangerous game of "button, button, who's got the button?"  She loves her first trip so much it soon leads her to marijuana, speed, heroin, Dexies, DMT, meth, sleeping pills, tranquilizers, and other pills only described by shape and color.  Within months she is hooked.  She begins lying, prostitution, and selling drugs, even to elementary schoolers to supply herself.  She runs away from home, is raped, and struggles to survive on the street.  Many times she tries to quit but, she is always tempted and cannot resist.  I won't ruin the details of the ending, but it is not a happy one.

I absolutely loved this book!!  It's intensely real.  I highly recommend this to any teenager, especially anyone once tempted to try drugs.  It highlights the harsh reality of substance abuse, but does not lie and try to convince the reader that drugs are not fun.  Instead, it shows how to cost far outweighs the benefits.  You get the facts about drugs from someone who has actually used them, not your health teacher, or "Above The Influence".  At one point, the diarist writes that "Anyone who says pot and acid are not addicting in a damn, stupid, raving idiot, unenlightened fool!"  You really sympathize with the diarist, and even though you know from the back of the book, she's going to die, you still hope she'll overcome it.  I can't even tell you how much I love this book!  If you haven't read it, I hope you will!

Rating: 5/5

WARNING: Some language, sexual content, and (need I even say it?) drug references.

The Catcher In The Rye

Author: J.D. Salinger
Genre: YA Fiction/ Classic


We just got finished with this one for Adv LAII.  


Holden Caulfield, has a lot of issues.  He is being kicked out of his prep school for failing every class but english.  However, Holden runs away from school after his roommate goes out with Jane Gallagher, a girl he's had a crush on for years.  He doesn't want to tell his parents about flunking out, so he just stays in New York City for a few days until his school vacation starts.  The entire book only courses a few days, but a lot happens.


I liked it, but there wasn't any major conflicts.  There are some fights, and some girls problems, but nothing major that spanned the entire book.  I'm not saying that it was boring, I was interested through out the whole story.  But, it may not be a favorite if adventure is your thing.  The main conflict is Holden's desire for the world to maintain its innocence.  However, i think most teenagers would be able to sympathize with what he goes through; Holden worries about his grades, his parents, his social life, his sex life, and his dead brother.


Rating: 4/5


WARNING: There is a lot of language and some sexual content (nothing graphic), in this book, so if that is offensive to you I would not recommend it.

Let's begin at the beignning...

Hi everyone.  I didn't want to jump straight into posting, so I thought I'd tell you a little about my blog.  I made this blog to discuss books. I'll post a brief summary of the book, and my opinion of it.  I read a pretty wide variety of books, so any fan of literature should check it out.  I just made this blog, and I've read a lot of great books, so I might backtrack a little. :-)