Go Ask Alice by Anonymous

Book: Go Ask Alice

Author: Anonymous

Recommended by: Maria Pelayo

For: Summer Reading

Interview Response:

1. What do you think the biggest lesson of this book is?

"I think the biggest lesson of this book is that you have to be careful to cut your family out of your life completely because oftentimes (as dysfunctional as they can be) they are the only ones that care enough about you to help. Alice slammed the door shut on her family and they had no idea where she was or what she was doing with her life. I'm sure they would have done their best to help."

2. How do you think this book could help current drug users or just everyone?

"The story is a sad one because I feel like Alice doesn't really get all her answer

s. She had to go to the extremes of human depravity, only to come back to where she started and fix her life. I think the book is not meant to help drug users, but rather the friends and family of drug users. After reading this book, I totally began to understand why it is so difficult to help someone in this situation. Their reality is COMPLETELY different than mine and this prevents both of us from understanding one another. It can help people who know a drug user see their perspective and have compassion for the state they're in."

3. In pg. 126 she talks about how its not only the kids' fault but the adults fault too. Do you agree with this? why or why not?

"Absolutely! I look at the way we treat kids in this country and I'm horrified

by it. We often don't give them a voice until it's too late. We don't have real conversations about drugs and sex, we just tell the to say no. It's about honesty, transparency and realistic expectations. We think it's okay to sit kids in front of TV shows that are filled with sex, yet we don't have a conversation with them about it until it's too late. Kids see adults taking tons of prescription medications just to make it through the day, but they tell kids to just deal with their own stress naturally, even though drugs are so present in kids' lives. So yes, I think the adults are just as much to blame as the kids. We need to get more real about conversations and the temptations that surround our teens."

4. Why do you think she died at the end even though she was trying so hard to leave her past behind?

"I think some people get more in touch with human darkness than is healthy to know. The darkness is as much a part of our lives as is the light, but when we go and purposely explore the darkness, it's possible to lose our way back home. I think she died because she was too far gone into that darkness. Things like love no longer made sense to her and so love lost the strength to bring her back. She possibly didn't believe in herself enough to do the hard work it takes to come back from addiction. Low self-esteem could also be the cause of her addiction. A difficulty addicts face is not being able to cope with difficulties. At this point, it could have been something as simple as burning her breakfast that made her feel like a loser and sent her

spiraling into that depression that could only be numbed through drugs."

5. Who throughout her life do you think helped her the most to be a better person?

"I think her family tried very hard but ultimately could not understand her. I don't think there were any lasting people that helped her, they mostly enabled her or encouraged her behaviors. Although it doesn't seem like it, I think her family helped her the most."

6. Do you think her parents were good or bad parents? and why?

"I don't know. There seemed to be a lack of understanding from her family and perhaps they didn't understand her perspective, but that doesn't make them bad parents. I think when the book was written, parents didn't know how to have drug conversations with kids, they still don't. The parents seemed to do everything that was in their power to do, it just wasn't enough for Alice."

7. How do you think parents in general influence their children' decisions or on whether they do drugs or not?

"I believe parents are the biggest influence on children, but the conversat

ion has to be real. Instead of telling kids, just don't do it, they can talk about why kids are curious to do drugs. Kids want to be accepted, especially by their parents. If parents go out of their way to make kids feel comfortable in talking about drugs, I think realistic conversations can happen. Parents should be aware of their children's insecurities because more than likely, this is the behavior causing kids to go to drugs for an answer. Parents have this influence and should definitely use it to understand their children more."

8. Do you think in some way its the parents fault that their child does drugs because they don't pay enough attention to them?

"Sometimes. There's definitely some behaviors that parents should not ignore. If a parent begins to ignore their child, the child will just try to get attention in a different way, usually more destructive. It comes down to knowing your children so that you know when they're in trouble."

9. What do you think we should all do to stop this problem?

"Educate kids for real. Have real conversations. Talk about the difficulties

of being a teenager. Teach ways to cope with stress. Teach meditation (not kidding!) as it will calm the mind."

10. What was your favorite part of this book? and how did the end make you feel?

"My favorite part of the book was the end because the story was getting too intense for me. It was almost like, there was nothing worse that could happen to Alice- but then it did. The end made me very sad, but it also put her hurting spirit to rest. Sometimes only death can calm such a depressed individual and we have to be happy that they are in peace. Although it was very sad, the ending put closure on an intense situation."

My Response: I felt like this was a very sad and scary book. This book is a diary of a fifteen year old girl in high school who is a drug user. The first time she was introduced to drugs was in a party with the "popular kids" she went to while she was visiting her grandparents. Without knowing she drank a coke they gave her at the party with LSD in it. After that she kept trying different drugs and hanging out with the people at the party, which were only a bad influence for her. After that she started becoming a different person and left home two times. After the second time she left she came back and decided to become a good

person to make her family and her grandparents proud of her. At her school she was known as a person who was once busted for having drugs and she sometimes felt lonely and scared and she felt like she shouldn't have been born. Her past would sometimes hunt her down but she tried her best to keep being a good girl no matter how hard it was or how lonely she felt or if the only people that supported her were her parents she still tried her best and at the end she decided she wasn't going to keep a diary and three weeks after that she died of an overdose. It is not known if it was an accidental overdose or a premeditated overdose. After reading that she died I was shocked and sad at the same time because she had been trying so hard the last months to stop using drugs and to make her family proud but at the end she wasn't able to make it and she died. All her hard work and effort and tears were basically not worth it because she died.

It was shocking that all this happened because of her "friends." They would invite her to parties and that's were they would trick her. Also the bad influences and friends around her made her use more and more drug. It was like if every time she tried to stop there was someone who would give her drugs. Even when she definitely decide to stop using drugs the "dopers" at her school kept calling her names and telling her that

they were going to get her. They even put drugs once on a food she ate and that made her go to a mental hospital. This book teaches you that drugs are very dangerous and that they can change a person so quickly. It can make someone do something they wouldn't do if they weren't on drugs and act crazy. It takes the people who use it to different worlds which they think its awesome but when they don't have it they feel horrible and like everything in the world is not worth it. Drugs can destroy a person's life and it can destroy the people around them. She would have probably been a successful psychologist in the future and have a happy life with Joel but because of drugs she died being so young and barely have lived anything. Drugs were the ones that lead her to her death and basically destroyed her life.

The Color Purple by Alice Walker

Book: The Color Purple

Author: Alice Walker

Recommended By: Kelsie Rich

For: Honors Humanities

Interview Response:1. What was you favorite part of the book and why?

"My favorite part of the book was when Celie finally stood up to Albert with Shug and finally left. It shows the power someone can still posses after being lied to and hurt for all of her life."

2. What do you think a person can learn from reading this book?

"I think that this book can teach a lot to young woman but I personally learned that even if you have been hurt in the past than you can still be strong and turn your life around. Celie could have went multiple ways with her life but chose to stick to the path with less struggles. If I was Celie and found out my father figure was hiding my sister from me, I would go on a rampage."

3. What do you think is the most important lesson Shug and Sofia taught Celie?

"The most important lesson the Shug and Sofia taught Celie was that woman have purpose in her life time. She conformed to what she knew and when a female doesn't have another female figure in their life than you don't know much. This mentor figure both Shug and Sofia bestowed onto Celie created a stronger woman. Whether it was the common knowledge woman should know about their bodies and opinions Shug showed in her lifetime or the strong mentality Sofia embodied, Shug learned a lot about womanhood in one of the best ways, from the stories of others."

4. Do you think there are still women that are treated like Celie was treated at the beginning of the book by Albert?

"Woman to date are still being treated like the character Celie. Some men haven't came to the realization that woman have rights in this world other than birthing children and some people still believe other races do not know how to prosper. The ignorance of people in this world create a divided nation. The rights of every human should be put forth to stop the actions Albert did to Celie for all woman around the world."

5. Did you like the book? Why or why not?

"I liked this book because the style of writing was different and people, like myself, are always intrigued by the things they hate in the world. The book was written in the form of letters back and forth from Celie and her sister who was in africa and in slang from the time period. It was difficult to comprehend in the beginning of the book but it grew on you. In studies, people are moved into action when they study about things they completely disagree with. It makes their minds open to helping that certain cause. This book has challenged me to want to stop any type of abuse happening with the female race."

My Response: I felt like this was very interesting and sometimes sad book. I also felt it was unfair

sometimes all the things that kept happening to the main character, Celie, and in general how the women were treated. Sometimes it made me mad the way most men thought they were better than women only because they were men. This book was mainly about Celie, a colored woman that was raped by a man she thought was her father but later fin

ds out was her step dad. Later she was forced to marry someone she did not love just to care of his children and clean the house. She was robbed of the two children she had with her step dad and they were given to a couple, Samuel and Corrine. Later Celie's sister, Nettie, ends up working with Samuel and Corrine and traveling with them to Africa were she learns a lot about slavery and many different things and where she constantly keeps writing letters to her sister. After a long time Celie finally finds the letters and starts to read them with her good friend Shug Avery, a very famous singer. Celie's son-in-law marries a girl named Sofia. Sofia taugh

t Celie that women have to stand up for themselves and be independent and don't let men treat them like robots or maids. Throughout the book Celie changed a lot. She changed from being the "perfect wife" that did everything her husband told her to do with no excuses to a woman who knew who she was and stood up for herself.

This book talks about the way women were usually treated back then. How they were just there to do whatever her husband told her to do and be a "perfect wife." It also talks about color and how it made a difference in the way people in general looked at you or treated you. This book also talks about God and how most people think he's only at church but He is everywhere. It also talks about family and friendship and how it is very important in anyone's life.

Every Patient Tells a Story by Lisa Sanders, M.D.

Book: Every Patient Tells a Story

Author: Lisa Sanders, M.D.

Recommended by: Nia Gamboa

For: Honors Biology

Interview Response: "It's an interesting book. Each chapter is a different story about unknown diseases. These stories are real but they just changed the names. And since I'm very motivated to become a crna (certified registered nurse anthesist) this book caught my attention because of how the patients dealt with surgery and just reading about the patients' sicknesses intrigued me read this book, some of the stories were similar to my
grandma when she was sick with cancer, my grandmother was the one who has made an impact on me so that's why I chose to read this book," Nia Gamboa.

My Response of the book:This was a very very interesting

book. It was about the way doctors come about with a diagnosis for what is wrong with a patient. Also trying to find a solution to cure that patient. There was times like when a girl kept vomiting but the tests and everything showed she was perfect and there was nothing wrong with her but she still kept vomiting. The doctor had to gather facts and things he knew from different sicknesses to try to figure out what was wrong with this patient. Sometimes it seemed like there was no answer to what someone had but they just had to keep looking for what was wrong until they figured what that certain patient had.