Banned Books: Go Ask Alice

Banned Books According to DoSomething.org, more than 60% of teens are doing or have done drugs at one time. Go Ask Alice should be banned from middle school and elementary libraries and only permitted at the high school level because of the use of vulgar language, the use of illegal substances, and the explicit descriptions of the activities being done throughout the book. One reason this book should be banned is the use of vulgar language. The foul language used in this book is not appropriate for middle school nor elementary libraries, but acceptable to more mature audiences like high school. An example of this occurs toward the middle of the book when, the main character, Alice and her friend are at a party that gets out of hand and she’s talking about it the next day, “Last night was the worst night of my shitty, rotten, stinky, dreary, f*cked up life.” (Sparks, 58) Another example toward the beginning of the book when she’s expressing her feelings about that day, “I feel awfully bitched and pissed off at everybody… I just want to puke all over the shitty world.” (Sparks, 82, 83)
Next, another reason Go Ask Alice should be banned is the excessive use of illegal substances. The drug use written throughout the book is not appropriate for middle school or elementary, but should be permitted for high school level. In Go Ask Alice there are many illegal substance references throughout the entire book. An example happens toward the beginning when she’s at a small hang out and is unknowingly consuming a spiked drink. “Then I noticed the strange shifting patterns on the ceiling… I watched the pattern change to swirling colors, great fields of reds, blues, yellows.” (Sparks 25) Another example toward the middle is when she and her friend are roped into selling drugs to young kids, “...so Chris and I have both had to push pot… I convinced Richie that it would be easier to push acid than pot…” (Sparks, 45) This usage continues throughout the book.
A third, and