Voting Station

Beatrice Sparks

Please vote to return to collections.

Author

The Resume

    (January 15, 1917-May 25, 2012)
    Born in Goldberg, Idaho
    Birth name was Beatrice Ruby Mathews
    'Editor' of 'anonymous' diaries 'Go Ask Alice,' 'Jay's Journal,' 'It Happened to Nancy,' 'Almost Lost,' 'Kim,' 'Treacherous Love,' 'Finding Katie,' and 'Annie's Baby'
    Mormon

Why she might be annoying:

    Her books were novels that were marketed as real diaries by teenagers.
    She claimed to have a Ph.D., but there was no evidence of where or even if she'd earned it.
    'Jay's Journal' was about a teenage boy who becomes a Satanist. It was very loosely based on the real diary of a boy who committed suicide, but the boy had no involvement with Satanism or the occult.
    She didn't hide enough identifying information about 'Jay's' family and community.
    'Jay's' grave was desecrated and his family had to move.
    A 1998 New York Times article suggested that she may have had help writing the books.
    Critics have noted that the teenage diarists in her books did not sound like actual teenagers.

Why she might not be annoying:

    'Go Ask Alice' was made into a TV movie.
    Her books are now described as works of fiction on the copyright page.
    The 'Jay's Journal' fraud inspired a rock opera.
    She claimed that she wanted her books to be cautionary tales.

Credit: Truffle


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 5 Votes: 60.0% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 2 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 16 Votes: 93.75% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 3 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 77 Votes: 54.55% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 1 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 3 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 2 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 8 Votes: 62.50% Annoying
    In 2014, Out of 19 Votes: 57.89% Annoying
    In 2013, Out of 14 Votes: 57.14% Annoying
    In 2012, Out of 63 Votes: 74.60% Annoying