For some reason, I thought I’d revisit reading ‘Go Ask Alice’ (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Go_Ask_Alice) which I thought was a diary of a real 15yr old girl who gets pulled in to drugs, sex and running away from home – but I’ve since learned has a lot of controversy around it, some of which because it is likely fiction vs a real diary.

The first time I read the book, I believe I was the same age as the anonymous diarist…or perhaps a bit younger. I was a voracious reader when I was a child, so I don’t really remember. What I do remember though, is that it scared the hell out of me in terms of drugs and experimentation!

Re-reading it, I’m surprised I was allowed – or rather, encouraged – to read it at that age. It does have the ability to be a scare tactic…but it also has the ability to make someone curious about experimentation. I just happened to go the ‘scared outta my wits’ way. It also is quite graphic in terms of talking about rape and other topics that I wouldn’t have really had exposure to yet at that age.

I wonder if my Mum read it before giving it to me. I’m sure she did, as she read more than I did…and still does! But if she did, I’m curious about her thought process in having me read it. More than likely, it was the scare factor, but that could have had the opposite effect given how the book is written.

The book definitely left an imprint on me…enough to want to re-visit it as an adult. I’m not enjoying it as much in terms of the writing style, especially knowing it’s fiction. I remember staying up late with a flashlight under the covers, devouring it when I read it the first time. But it’s an eye opening experience to re-read as I know it had an impact on me even though I didn’t remember a lot of it.

Not finished it yet….so interested to see what’s yet to come.

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