Anonymous

Go Ask Alice is a controversial 1971 book about drug abuse that is considered a classic of American young adult literature. The book purports to be the actual diary of an anonymous teenage girl who died of a drug overdose in the late 1960s and is therefore presented as a testimony against drug use. Alice is not the protagonist's name; the diarist's name is never given in the book. A woman named Alice is mentioned briefly in one entry; she is a fellow addict whom the diarist meets on the street. Despite this, reviewers generally refer to the diarist as "Alice" for the sake of convenience.

Marketed to teen boys—it caused a sensation when published and remains in print. 36 years later (as of 2007), popular with most teenagers of either gender. However, revelations about the book's origin have caused much doubt as to its authenticity and factual accounts, and the publishers have listed it as a work of fiction since at least the mid-late 1980s. Although it is still published under the byline "Anonymous," press interviews and copyright records suggest that it is largely or wholly the work of its purported editor, Beatrice Sparks.

The title is from the Jefferson Airplane song White Rabbit, which includes the lyrics, "Go ask Alice/When she's ten feet tall." Grace Slick wrote the song after noticing possible drug references in the classic novel Alice In Wonderland.