Books can be attributed to "Anonymous" for several reasons:
* They are officially published under that name * They are traditional stories not attributed to a specific author * They are religious texts not generally attributed to a specific author
Books whose authorship is merely uncertain should be attributed to Unknown.
This Is Not a book I would have picked up to read, but I was gifted the book from a friend. I felt like it was very eye opening. How quick and easily someone can become addicted and an insight into what the addict could go through, mentally and physically. A short, easy, intriguing read.
I read this when I was a teenager and just now to refresh myself of the details. I’m not really sure if I would want for my teenager to read it. Should they read it for awareness of what can happen? Possibly, but only after a very frank discussion with them.
From the beginning, I was not very into the book. Alice felt a little distant as every entree in her diary was about a paragraph every 3 days. In those 3 days, it seemed like something new had happened and I was trying to understand so quickly. For example, one entree she was writing about how she wanted to become a social worker and the next was that her piano teacher had invited her to an event. I hadn’t read about a piano teacher in the previous pages. However, the mental health and drug deals for a teenager that this book mentions is awakening. I read about Alice running away from home two times and getting carried away with drugs. It explains addiction, HOWEVER, doesn’t educate, just explains what one with an addiction feels. Beautiful part of the story. One thing that I wish we got during this book, was more with the beautiful romance. It was mentioned that the boy was sending letters, pages long, but never got a single sentence from those letters. He was even sending letters to her parents while she was in the mental hospital and the parents would give it to her in there. Overall, I felt this book was not entirely realistic. I saw the beauty in it but it was not reached. I definitely did not cry over this book as others did. It definitely wasn’t terrible therefore, three stars. Easy, short read.
This book was an amazing book! And the fact that she relapsed so many times and still got back up and then was still worried about relapsing, and then she would relapse again was like mind blowing. I felt very attached to the character from like the first diary entry.
The fact that this book was written in the 70s but still seems so real. The way it is written is from this teenage girl. Her relapses and way she wrote was truly great. I think she struggled with everything and relapsed so much. I honestly wish there was more
This book feels like a time capsule from the late 60's. The crystal clear image of the intersectionality between being a girl, being white and middle class and using substances comes through powerfully.
Not a fan, I understand that this ‘true’ story is not actually true, and despite it being 50 years old, this does not excuse the homophobia, transphobia, and fat-phobia.
Very realistic (from personal experience). A Must read for every middle-School aged child in my opinion.
Growing up you get warned not to run with the wrong crowd but just as this book highlights - the nice, successful, educated people just as much fall und pull others into addiction.