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⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ “Anonymous,” AKA a Utah woman named Beatrice Sparks, becomes famous for essentially fabricating hot-button, “diaries” of troubled young people. Did she help define the YA genre? Sure. But that doesn‘t mean her tactics weren‘t problematic. Had the author and publishers been honest, would we still be talking about this? Had we known they were indeed fiction from the onset, would anyone care?

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This is a necessary expose, but I didn't care for the writing style. But it is clear that Beatrice Sparks, author of Go Ask Alice, was a pathological liar and a terrible person. What she did in writing Jay's Journal (a book I hadn't heard of) is reprehensible. Her books should not be in print any longer, but publishers are still making money off them.

I'm sure we've heard about the urban legend of Go Ask Alice allegedly being true by an author going by the pen name Anonymous. Well, it turns out to be all a great big lie! Anonymous is actually a fraudster writer, Beatrice Sparks, an alleged psychoanalyst from the Mormon church embellished stories of troubled teens to push a moral agenda as cautionary tales. Here, the book examines her exploitation of real teens for profit and exposes her!

It may be a case of me not the book, since I was having a bad pain day when I started this and having trouble concentrating on anything… But I found the writing dry and the structure jumpy, and around halfway through I realized I just didn‘t care how things wrapped up.

How have I made it this long without reading “Go Ask Alice” by Anonymous? Turns out, Anonymous is actually Beatrice Sparks, who never wanted to be anonymous in the first place, but publishers thought the book would sell better if it was presented as a real diary. They were correct, to put it mildly. This is also the stories of the actual people who inspired the “diaries” written by Sparks, two troubled teens and their families. What a scam.

12-1-22: My November Book Wrap Up part 1! These 3 books were terrific and I gave them 5⭐️.

When I was a young teen in the early 80s, 'Go Ask Alice' blew me away.

Fast forward forty years and 'Unmask Alice' did the same thing.

Turns out the diaries weren't anonymous after all, but were written by a Mormon housewife who went on to publish several other 'diaries' dealing with hot topics such as Satanism and AIDS.

I have to say that, as part of the intended audience, 'Go Ask Alice' scared me away from drug use.

11-3-22: My 110th finished book of 2022! I was completely invested in Go Ask Alice as a young girl/teen. As an adult I‘ve heard the rumors it was not real but this book really breaks it all down. Beatrice Sparks was the creator of Alice and Jay‘s Journal a similar diary concept. To think this woman‘s made up story had such an impact, and is still selling, is unbelievable. Highly recommend this book. It‘s an easy read and so informative.

Gripping exposè on the fraud behind “Go Ask Alice” and other “real diaries” published since the 1970s. Now known to be fake, these novels were marketed as truth which created fear in parents, contributed directly to the Satanic Panic, and had devastating repercussions for a family. Emerson pulls no punches here, nor should he. I read these “diaries” as preteen, so it was so interesting to revisit them as an adult (minus the pearl clutching). 4⭐️

Go Ask Alice always read as fake hyperbole to me, so I was surprised to read it was taken so seriously by most when it came out in 1971. This book chronicles the real-life conniving and damage done by the middle-age mom who wrote it. The truly sad part of this exposé about Beatrice Sparks was the real-life family who gave her the diary she virtually ? fabricated into Jay‘s Journal, her follow up that fed into the satanic panic of the 80s.

In the ‘70s, Go Ask Alice came out, purportedly the diary of a 15-year old girl who got into drugs and died. There was a frenzy among parents and the government alike. Satanism, misinformation about LSD, pot, all impelled by the editor of the diary, Beatrice Sparks who subsequently produced other “diaries”. The press was complicit and it seemed such a herd mentality that no one stopped to think and ask questions. Rick Emerson does a good job

This was absolutely 🍌👖crazy. Like many children of the 80s I was obsessed with Go Ask Alice. My sheltered little Catholic brain found it salacious and scandalous. I literally haven‘t thought about this book for 40 years and had no idea any of the background behind the scam artist who penned it. This was a wildly compelling read and brought to mind the current book banning nonsense as well as a certain BS “group” that starts with the letter Q.🥜

❤️❤️❤️ Don‘t even know what to say…. Just wow ❤️❤️❤️

😈😈😈

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Cults!

…

Such a sad reality.

Getting my car detailed so I‘m sitting in a Dunkee‘s reading and it‘s freezing in here!!!

I will try to read this one (I think my eyes are ready for a physical book). My husband found this one when we were hanging out at a book store and picked it up for me, saying, “this one looks like you should read it.“ It looks really interesting. So, I am excited to start it.

I remember reading “Go Ask Alice“ back in the day - the story behind it is super crazy! This was a definite ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ read for me! #arc

Full review: https://erinkonrad.com/2022/08/08/unmask-alice-book-review/

Such potential. Compelling topic. Author did solid research, but his snark was too much. He couldn‘t contain his loathing for the woman who brought us Go Ask Alice and Jay‘s Journal. His narrative was also disjointed in places, making me wonder where he was going. But he consistently made disparaging remarks about Beatrice Sparks. Just give me the facts. They‘re outrageous enough to make me dislike her. Don‘t need your adjectives hammering away.