Go ask Alice

Anonymous (1971).  Go ask Alice. New York: Simon Pulse. 

Summary: Based on the diary of a 15-year-old girl who becomes increasingly dependent on marijuana and LSD, runs away from home, tries to break her addiction, suffers a nervous breakdown, and eventually dies from an overdose.  Originally published in 1971 and briefly set in San Francisco, Go Ask Alice provides insight into the 1960's counter-culture movement as well as showing one person's emotional struggle with drug addiction.

Additional comments:  Go Ask Alice is written in a diary format form the point of view of a melodramatic and depressed teen-aged girl. The reader is taken on a psychological journey through the girl's internal conflicts between what she wants to do versus what she ultimately can't resist doing. Though seemingly realistic in the beginning, the book takes on a didantic tone midway through as lack of self-control brings on ill consequences and eventually her self-destruction.