The diarist's father, a college professor, accepts a dean position at a new college, causing the family to relocate. The two towns in which the diarist's family reside during the story are not identified, and are only described as being college towns. The dates and locations mentioned in the book place its events as occurring between 19 in California, Colorado, Oregon, and New York City. In 1968, a 15-year-old girl begins keeping a diary, in which she records her thoughts and concerns about issues such as crushes, weight loss, sexuality, social acceptance, and relating to her parents. Slick's song is understood as using Carroll's story as a metaphor for a drug experience. The title was taken from a line in the 1967 Grace Slick-penned Jefferson Airplane song ' White Rabbit' ('go ask Alice/ when she's ten feet tall') the lyrics in turn reference scenes in Lewis Carroll's 1865 novel Alice's Adventures In Wonderland, in which the title character Alice eats and drinks various substances, including a mushroom, that make her grow larger or smaller. In 1976, a stage play of the same name, written by Frank Shiras and based on the book, was also published. The book was adapted into the 1973 television film Go Ask Alice, starring Jamie Smith-Jackson and William Shatner. Go Ask Alice has also ranked among the most frequently challenged books for several decades due to its use of profanity and explicit references to sex and rape, as well as drugs. It is praised for conveying a powerful message about the dangers of drug abuse. Intended for a young adult audience, Go Ask Alice became a widely popular bestseller. Nevertheless, its popularity has endured, and as of 2014 it had remained continuously in print since its publication over four decades earlier. Some sources have also named Linda Glovach as a co-author of the book. Sparks went on to write numerous other books purporting to be real diaries of troubled teenagers. Questions about the book's authenticity and true authorship began to arise in the late 1970s, and Beatrice Sparks is now generally viewed as the author of the found manuscript–styled fictional document. Attributed to 'Anonymous', the book is in diary form, and was originally presented as being the edited actual diary of the unnamed teenage protagonist. Go Ask Alice is a 1971 book about a teenage girl who develops a drug addiction at age 15 and runs away from home on a journey of self-destructive escapism.

White Rabbit by K. Webster