I have always been fascinated with the mystery and con artistry surrounding the most salacious book of my childhood, Go Ask Alice. I remember being young and thinking the title and cover were intriguing and then hearing more about the scandalous nature of the narrative I learned that it was a "true" book written by some mysterious girl whose life was a tragic spiral of drugs and sex. Heady stuff for a middle schooler to hear about.

The truth is that the book was written by a middle-aged conservative woman named Beatrice Sparks with dubious ties to any sort of "psychology" job who used the fears of the time to push her agenda. While her first book was arguably more harmless as the lies were just figments of her imagination, Sparks continued to try to ride off the back of her initial fame with another book. This one is much more insidious though, as Sparks was given access to the diaries of a young, troubled teenager who committed suicide by his actual family in hopes she could do something useful with it to help other depressed young people. What Sparks did was horrifying. The boy in question was artistic, emotional, trying to figure out life and himself and while he did slip into some drug usage, was more plagued by mental health issues than anything else. Sparks turned his story into the salacious Jay's Journal, an exploitative book about Satanism, something the young man was never involved in. Even more horrifically Sparks' book pushed the witch hunt of the "Satanic panic" that happened around this time, a situation that ruined the lives of many innocent people. Sparks never seemed to feel any remorse about what she did to the grieving family of the deceased teenager nor did she slow down her career, continuing to tap into whatever panic was happening at the time to write more "true" books that fed into parent fears.

The whole story is the height of what irresponsible authorship causes. The author of this book has done a great deal of research into the story of a shady writer and the impact her lies had on culture. The tale is almost too strange to be believed and has the feel of true crime since Beatrice Sparks could easily be termed a con woman. It brings into question the idea of transparency when it comes to writing and ranks as one of the biggest scandals of the literary world. It also questions the publishing industry itself,as similar scandals continue to happen when book houses rush to publish what they think will be a best seller without looking into the author or their credentials. A cautionary tale and an infuriating one about a woman with no scruples.

Thank you to Net Galley and BenBella Books for the ARC copy

I was riveted by this book. Like so many others,, I read Alice in middle school. Years later, I heard that it had not been a true diary at all, but some sort of a hoax. So I was eager to read this and finally get the details.

I loved the way Emerson wove his narratives about drugs and the Satanic Panic, keeping Beatrice Sparks at the center. I found his format to be very readable. That said, there was a bit more novelization (putting words and thoughts specifically into the minds and mouths of the characters) than I prefer. This, as well as Emerson’s decision not to include citations, make the book seem much less scholarly than it might have been. Finally, I think the section which included a highly speculative guess at who may have been the “real” Alice should have been left out completely.

Thanks to NetGalley for providing an ARC copy for my review.

4.5 rounded to 5

Fascinating story of a middle-aged hustler, Beatrice Sparks, who had an unerring brilliance when it came to faking teen diaries and synching them to whatever the country was beginning to panic about, be it hard drugs, witchcraft, date rape or AIDs.

After decades of getting nowhere with her writing, Sparks, who had a hardscrabble childhood, makes an important connection in Art Linkletter, who at the time was a sort of "America's dad" and extremely famous. When his daughter commits suicide, Linkletter decides LSD is to blame (at the time America was beginning to freak out about LSD in the same way the country is currently up in arms about opioids). Sparks sees an opportunity—she hands over a diary to Linkletter that is supposedly the true life account of a teen girl caught up in drugs who dies. The book became an monster bestseller—only this "true life teen diary" was pure fiction. Sparks had been a volunteer counselor of troubled teens and it's likely she took their stories as inspiration, but she never had any kind of diary of "Alice."

Her ruse was swallowed completely by the publishing world which, as it is wont to do even today, wasn't about to scrutinize something that was making it so much money.

While perhaps making up a teen diary and passing it off as authentic is bad but not cruel, her next act was actually cruel. This time she took a real diary of a troubled Mormon teen boy and used some of it, but then embellished and fictionalized a huge side plot of him being dragged into death through Satanic ritual and witchcraft. This book, Jay's Journal,. also became a smash hit.

Simon and Schuster, which published the books and still does, currently has an entire set of "diaries" of supposed troubled teens. While the company still passes off Go Ask Alice as a real diary (HOW?), the subsequent "diary" blurbs read more like fiction but a cursory glance at the reviews makes clear most readers think they are nonfiction.

Author Rick Emerson has a strong (somewhat snarky) voice. The first third of the book is utterly fascinating as it deals with Sparks and her Alice hoax. Then Emerson takes on Alden Barrett, the real-life troubled teen whose diary was the basis for Jay's Journal. Alden has his own sad, tragic tale, but for a long period of time (not being familiar with the book) I had no clue how this tied into Beatrice Sparks, and as I didn't find Alden's story as compelling. I almost abandoned the book. I wish the author had tied in Sparks much earlier to Alden's story because for many chapters I was quite baffled. Additionally, it was unclear to me whether Brenda's story was supposed to be the basis for Go Ask Alice. It's strongly hinted at but never stated clearly.

I also kept waiting for Emerson to approach Simon & Schuster, which continues to profit off these "diaries," for comment but oddly he never does.

Finally, there is a long portion about the Satanic Panic of the 80s which is jaw-dropping, and I can see how Emerson included it because Sparks' books played perfectly into the hysteria of that era. But there were long segues that seemed as they belonged to a different book entirely. (I would loved for Emerson to approach Oprah Winfrey, who did her part in giving credibility to a horrific social panic that sent innocent people to prison for child abuse.)

Finally, it is my belief that we are currently in the middle of several social panics and I hope anyone reading this book will take a good hard look at the decade's "cancellations" and online mob rule and see them for what they are—not "accountability" and "transparency" but hysteria and social contagion. The words may change but the game stays the same.

Thank you to Rick Emerson, Ben Bella Books, and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Teenage me would of been extatic to find this book. Like many teenagers I found Go ask Alice in a library and was so drawn to it, I'm still fascinated 20something years later.

This book continued to keep me engaged and wanting more with every chapter. It then left me feeling completely satisfied with the "where are they now " portion of the book. The question and answer portion was whipped cream on a hot fdge Sunday, a little extra indulgence.

The main take away from this book and something I frequently stress the importance of: question what you see, hear and read.

I think the first time I read “Go Ask Alice” was when I was around 11 or 12. I read it several times when I was younger, because that girl’s diary was horrific and morbidly fascinating. I mean, think of it! This girl was unknowingly dosed with LSD, fell into a life of drugs, and she ended up dying thinking parasites were on her! My friends and I were obsessed … and to this day, I’ve never tried LSD. 😂

I don’t remember when I learned that it was a work of fiction, (more like, a work of fraud) but I was an adult, and I was so annoyed that I was completely fooled by a trickster, a hustler. A woman named Beatrice Sparks. This book is about her, and about her many books, including the bestselling “Go Ask Alice”, a completely fictionalized tale, and “Jay’s Journal” - which somehow eluded me! After reading this book, I want to read that one now, but I definitely wouldn’t buy it and support the utter bullshit this woman spread to the masses.

Both books were fakes, with “Jay’s Journal” being (very) loosely based on the real diary of a young man (not named Jay) who killed himself after getting into the occult. Witchcraft and Satan worship took this bright young Mormon boy from the world … it would have you think. The truth was that “Jay” (actually a teenage boy named Alden) was a kid who had severe depression. His parents tried to get him help, but psychology was much more primitive then, and he committed suicide. The occult had NOTHING to do with it.

This book about Ms. Sparks is written informally, but excellently, with exacting details and footnotes. It was a very easy, quick read and I thought the subject matter was so interesting. This woman, who pretended to be a psychotherapist, who pretended to “find” diaries of teenage drug users/homosexuals/devil worshipers/sinners, who defined generations, who influenced the “war on drugs”, who ruined people’s lives … well, she’s a real piece of work. This book takes you through all of it, and it’s definitely interesting.

Four stars, maybe even 4.5 if you remember reading these when you were younger. Millions of Americans did, and while I eventually found out Alice’s story was fake, I had no idea how much damage this one woman did to generations. I appreciate getting the chance to learn the truth, in a serious but entertaining manner.

(Thank you to BenBella Books, Rick Emerson and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my review.)

This book made me question almost all of my reading lists in middle and high school. I read Go Ask Alice when I was about 15 and was so sad for this 'anonymous girl' but this book turned all that around for me. Reading Unmask Alice almost 20 years later and opened my mind completely! The author goes down MANY rabbit holes and exposes everyone behind the original journals. My mouth hit the floor the entire book. You'll want to grab this if you have ever read Go Ask Alice!

I really wanted to enjoy this one, but I just couldn’t get into it. It felt all over the place at times and that made it hard for me to get really into it. There’s many amazing reviews for this one though, so I feel like it’s very much a hit or miss depending solely on the individual.

Thanks to NetGalley for a copy of this book. I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This book uncovered the truth of "Go Ask Alice" and "Jay's Journal." I remember reading those books as a teen and being so shocked at what "Alice" went through. To know that these were simply works of fiction is even more troubling.

Emerson does an amazing job of showing how America was during the 1970's and 1980's. His extensive research really shines through as he uncovers the lies and shows the effects that Beatrice Sparks' had on the criminalization of drugs.

I don't read non-fiction often, but this one was something I won't soon forget!

Thanks for the ARC, Netgalley!

*ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*

Wow, what a way to begin my journey back into nonfiction! I was someone who read the original "Go Ask Alice" in middle school and spent weeks afterward wondering if Alice was a real person. At that age, I was also struggling with my mental health, wondering if other people felt that way I did. Cue "Alice," marketed as an anonymous journal about a troubled teen girl. I was hooked.

"Unmask Alice" is an expose of sorts concerning the national bestseller "Go Ask Alice," which made it to the top of bestsellers lists everywhere and became "the book that all teens and adults should read." The publishing of "Alice" was part of a chain of events that added fuel to Nixon's War on Drugs, as well as (in part) kickstarted the Satanic Panic. The problem was... "Alice" was fiction. And so were all of the subsequent novels Sparks published, all of which she claimed were either personal diaries or compilations from her "psychological case notes." (as Unmask Alice points out: Sparks was not a psychologist nor any type of counselor.)

The librarian part of me is fascinated at how "Alice" and Sparks' other novels were so heavily endorsed by booksellers and librarians across the country; the neuroscientist part of me is horrified at the way "Alice" presented drugs, addiction, mental health, and suicide to such a huge public audience.

As much as I was captivated by this book, I really want to touch on how the author talks about suicide (so: Content warning for this review and for the book in general: gory descriptions of suicides.) It's rare that my book reviews overlap with my professional life, but I have worked in suicide prevention research specifically with young people. I am by no means an expert, but I'm still involved in academic research. My problem: The section of the book dedicated to Alden's story claims that "The argument for whitewashing suicide goes like this: too much attention...can trigger more suicides... That's indisputably true (p143)."

This isn't... *completely* true. Talking about suicide actually decreases the risk of young people dying by suicide. A more true statement would be that in strict religious, conservative communities, talking about suicide might lead to messaging of shame and guilt, which isolates teens and increases risk of depression and suicide. (See: Alden's "counselor" who continues to tell his parents that Alden isn't truly depressed, he'll grow up and grow out of it.) Or: another true statement would be that giving the gory details of a person's suicide and fixating how, when, and where a suicide happened *could* trigger a cluster of suicides. Community and context are extremely important when referencing why suicide clusters may occur. Simply talking about suicide does not indisputably increase suicide rates.

Okay, I'm off my soapbox now. I just don't want people to take the sentiment "talking about suicide is bad" from that part of the text when really, open, judgment free conversations about mental health save lives.

"Unmask Alice" is a fast paced, thorough, critical look at how one woman's lies can influence the cultural zeitgeist for generations. 4 stars.

This was sadly a DNF for me. I tried hard to submerse myself into this book (I loved Go Ask Alice and Jay's Journal) but I couldn't get into it. Maybe I wasn't in the right mindset for a biography like this or maybe it just wasn't for me.

As a teenager, I devoured Go Ask Alice, reading my paperback copy until it was ragged (and a girl borrowed and lost it). Reading Unmask Alice by Rick Emerson was a little bit of a trip down memory lane, transporting me back to the early 1970's with his descriptions of not only the book and TV movie, but the culture and politics of the time. I never read Jay's Journal, nor did I read any of Beatrice Sparks other 'diaries,' which did not impede my enjoyment of this meticulously researched and impartially reported book.

Beatrice Sparks starts as a somewhat sympathetic character, one who has had credit for the diary stripped, and watches it become a sensation, but as we learn more about her deceptions and actions, she takes on the role of villain. I was somewhat shocked by the ease with which her deceptions were accepted at face value, though who would have suspected the extent of it!

For fans of the original diaries, true crime lovers, and 1970's history buffs, Unmask Alice is a great read.

Thank you to Netgalley, BenBella Books, and Rick Emerson for the opportunity to read an advance copy of Unmask Alice. The opinions in this review are my own.

A really well researched and interesting book. As one of the many people sucked into the 'Go Ask Alice' craze, I found this story to be absolutely fascinating. I still have my copy of 'Go Ask Alice' on my shelves in my childhood home and remember the impact it had on my life.

To find out the story behind its creation and the real author was shocking. Whilst it's not that surprising to find out it wasn't actually written by an anonymous teenage girl, there were so many other layers, including what the author went on to do after, the stories role in anti-drug propaganda and the crazy story of Beatrice Sparks.

What I also enjoyed was the way this book was written. Emerson has a really engaging writing style that was sensitive to the issues and people affected by also contained humour and insight. I loved this book and highly reccomend!

First I'm going to pick my jaw up from the floor.....Now I'll proceed.

Go Ask Alice was a very influential book for me in middle school and in high school (2000's era). I took so much away from the book and connected with it on such a personal level. It shaped me.

With that being said, the deep dive into the history of the publication, along with other diary style titles and how they impacted a toxic culture blew my mind. Satanic panic has been a topic I find endlessly fascinating and this book did not disappoint me in adding to my growing knowledge. The details on drugs and the war on drugs had me shocked. And I won't even begin to discuss Beatrice Sparks and the endless ways she slipped through every filter there was because I think reading about her with fresh eyes is the best way to go. The state of publishing, libraries, and bookselling is touched on and another interesting aspect of the book. I went through the emotions of shocked, sad, mad, furious, and heartbroken. This is a story that took so long to tell, which is such a shame, but Rick Emerson did a great job.

When it comes to non-fiction books, I enjoy them, but I tend to take a longer time to read. I need to really let the information sink in. With Unmask Alice, however, I couldn't read it fast enough. I needed all of the information ASAP. Emerson's writing is very readable and the mix of his personal touches (and opinions) I felt added to the readability. While authors' opinions can detract from the information in non-fiction, I thought it added to it (maybe this is because I agreed with all of them, but you never know).

There's so much more I want to add, but I don't want to spoil anything for readers. I highly recommend reading Unmask Alice!

I have to say, I didn't think this book would intersect so much with things I've already been reading/listening to. This book has Mormon ideology and Satanic Panic, two things that keep coming up over and over again. This one also gets into some dicey publishing territory, which, honestly I would have liked MORE information about.

In general, this is a quick and non-exhaustive look at how Mormonism, the war on drugs, Satanic Panic, and general conservatism just exploded. It pins the rise of the Satanic Panic in the 1970s, which makes sense, because it feels like Charles Manson was really the catalyst to a huge culture backlash and culminated in what we now consider the 1990s zenith of Satanic Panic. And you know, since nothing is never new under the sun, it's happening again in conservative circles with the secret cabal of baby killers.

The general style of the book is conversational, peppered with fun references (nothing too obscure, I don't think. Especially not if you are in any way Online). However, about the question of Beatrice Sparks and the Go Ask Alice thing - I think there's some of that we will never get the full truth on, and the author acknowledges that. I think the only place where the book could be strengthened is on the whole enabling problem in publishing. This is just one small chapter in what could be a huge book on all the cons that authors have pulled, particularly in fudging "true" stories and blurring them until the truth is a speck in the horizon.

Recommended for: people who love publishing intrigue and mentions of the Library of Congress, those who have read Go Ask Alice or Jay's Journal and wanted the backstory, and also anyone who is also obsessed with learning more about the Satanic Panic.

This was a well written book and also disturbing because the woman that wrote ‘Go Ask Alice’ and ‘Jay’s Journal’ was actually a con artist, compulsive liar, and destroyed people’s lives. I really recommend this if you grew up in the 70’s, 80’s or 90’s. ‘Go Ask Alice’ was a book that was spoken about so much. It taped into the thinking of a young girl who gets swept away and pulled into the world or drugs. She then dies.

The author was Beatrice Sparks and her ambition to achieve clouded all her judgment or concerns about other people. This book came out at a time when our country was divided: with the Vietnam War, Counterculture Beliefs, Changing Thoughts on Women and Minorities, Leaders being shot and killed, Many young people leaving home in search of answers, and it left a feeling by parents that their children were slipping away and in danger. Many teenagers also felt a call for change and were not easily relating to the cultures they grew up in. So, this book came out at the perfect time. Yet, this book was said to be about a real girl and written by anonymous.It went way beyond that and actually shaped our culture. Yet, any book written with lies, is deceptive and wrong. Perhaps, it helped some young teenagers identify with this girl and decide to avoid drugs, but is also helped Nixon push for very severe punishment of anyone processing any drug. The drug treatment part of the plan never happened.

Beatrice Sparks kept going. Her next book was so distressing and her behavior so awful it made me furious. A young teenage boy, Alden Barrett had some troubles throughout his life. Even when he was young, he had some wild mood swings and couldn’t seem to rain them in. Very little was known about adolescent mental illness at this time. He did get into drugs for a while, but had stayed sober. He grew up in an ultra conservative Mormon community where thinking differently was not well tolerated. He was quite intelligent, liked music, poetry, questioned traditional religion, and was looking for answers beyond his own small town. He meets a girl, Theresa and they fall in love. It is an intense, but innocent relationship. His parents do love and support him, but do not necessarily understand him. So, he becomes distraught as he has been suffering from depression for a while and takes his life. This is so very sad. He kept a journal through part of this. His parents think it might be good to let Beatrice Sparks use his journal so his death can help other kids in trouble seek a way out. Instead Beatrice writes Jay’s Journal, insists her name be listed as the author and uses passages from his diary, but completely turns the book into a terrifying tale a Sadism, something neither he or his girlfriend were into in any way. It is horrifying to do this to a grieving family. Any empathy I had for Beatrice was gone at this point.

So, beyond ruining an already destroyed family with a book that is thinly veiled and it is easy to figure out is supposed to be about Alden, she uses it to again tap into adults fear of the devil and young people supposedly being overtaken by Satanic Cults. It seems so bizarre and of course was, but this lead to many instances around the country describing horrific abuse done by Satanic Cults to Children. The most innocent gestures such as liking the game dungeons and dragons or their taste in music could be signs that your child was in trouble. Beatrice did not completely start this out of control panic, but her book played a role. Yet, she was unconcerned. She did not worry about what she did to this boy’s parents and sibling. No, she went on to continue writing more such diaries and her lies got bigger and bolder.

Excellent Book by an Author clearly trying to be honest. He did not have an agenda or a vendetta against Beatrice Sparks, but just let the facts speak for themselves. Recommend this book if you want to see how deception can have a profound and lasting cultural effect. More honesty and looking into authors claims needs to be done. Her books were selling well, so publishers did not even check her alleged degrees, being a psychotherapist, having adolescent patients, referrals, or anything else. This should have been done.

Thank you NetGalley, Rick Emerson, and BenBella Books for a copy of this book. I am always happy to leave a review.

Having not read Go Ask Alice, I wasn't sure what I would make of this book. It's a fascinating, well researched account of one of the biggest frauds that helped shape today's America.. There are parallels to the way misinformation travels today, such as a blog or video going viral and dominating 24 hours of news, or racking up 10 million views on YouTube. Go Ask Alice sold 6 million copies over 50 years, basically based on fear and shock value. Read in 2 sittings over a 24 hour period.

What a surprising read! Just last week, while hitting the free little libraries around my neighborhood and exchanging books, I picked up Go Ask Alice. It was tucked in one, still showing 'written by Anonymous.' I'd read it years ago and remember being moved and impressed by it. I had no idea the shady means the author used to get it published. I also didn't know she was behind multiple other 'diary' style stories. This books feels well researched and was easy to jump right in to. It slowed a bit as you learned 'Jay's' shocking and horrible story. I like that the author added both the times for the kids and the adult writing these but also the background of politics at the time and the looming war and draft. I think they all influenced the story, the time and the people. I'm so glad I read this, to shine a light on the truth of the author and the books.

A huge thank you to the author and publisher for providing an e-ARC via Netgalley. This does not affect my opinion regarding the book.

When I read Go Ask Alice (along with another two or three books in Beatrice Sparks' "true diary" series) I had already heard that it was maybe not entirely legit, but I kind of figured that maybe it was told to Beatrice Sparks and then a few things got changed along the way. It still gave me a good fright and to this day I don't remember much of the book but oh boy do I remember the maggots.

Anyhow, I was drawn to this book hoping there was something juicy and scandalous behind Go Ask Alice. In many ways, Beatrice Sparks was a lot more brazen in her lies than I thought and in others, it seemed like her lies were common knowledge by now. Either way, Emerson's writing is almost always compelling, although a middle section about Alden Barrett seems to drag on forever. I'm still not sure if Beatrice Sparks singlehandedly started the Satanic Panic and/or the War on Drugs but she sure as hell didn't help.

Like many of you 'Go Ask Alice' was required reading in early high school English class and was promoted as a true anonymous diary.

Reading Unmask Alice was like taking off the blinders and peering behind the scenes into that era and everything happening then. It is fascinating and makes for a great read

I received an ARC from netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

This is a fascinating behind the scenes look at Go Ask Alice and the other supposed diaries. From the start of the war on drugs to the Satanic panic and beyond, Rick Emerson paints a candid picture of life at the time of Go Ask Alice and Jay's Journal and the devious mind behind them.

Go Ask Alice was part of my childhood in the late 90s. Unmask Alice has shaken some of the foundation from back then.