Give Me a Posion Apple and make my day!

Scholastic is a top children's publishing house. A couple of summers ago I discovered their Candy Apple books and was hooked! I own all of them! They are sweet novels about surviving middle school in various ways...and things end happily ever after. Basically, they are fun reads that leave you with a warm, fuzzy feeling at the end. With the popularity of dark YA novels, it seems Scholastic has decided to jump on that bandwagon as well - providing youngsters with "age appropriate" darkness. Enter: Poison Apple books.

The moment I saw them on Amazon I knew they would be up by ally, so I ordered the first three. I am just now getting around to taking a bite (yeah, yeah I know) out of one, and I loved it! While this is the third of the Poison Apple books, these are not books that have to be read in order. 

I picked Miss Fortune to read first because I love a good old fashioned "fortune teller gone bad" story. And this novel lives up to that potential...and then some. Since this is aimed at the youngsters (ages 8-12), I will say that the author does take this responsibility with great care. She produces a solid storyline with just enough creepiness to not give your eight-year-old nightmares and just enough to keep your twelve-year-old engaged (unless her mind has already been tainted with horror/slasher films).

Mia and Zoe are best friends who do it all together. They decide to attend a carnival with a group of friends, and before the night is over, one of their lives will be dramatically changed for the worst...that would be Zoe. You see, Zoe makes a mistake. While her friend Mia is having her fortune read, Zoe sort of/kind of makes fun of the fortune teller. Well, any good skeptic will know this is just not the best of plans, and soon Zoe finds that out, beginning the morning after the reading.

Strange, inexplicable things begin to happen to Zoe - making her feel out of control of everything. From minor accidents to one that almost ends her life, she realizes that she must somehow take control. With the help of her BFF Mia, the two embark on a journey to break the curse that seems to be haunting Zoe. The question is this: can they succeed before it's too late?

Brandi Dougherty creates two solid characters with Mia and Zoe; their friendship is believable, even if the rest of the plot is not. But overall this is a fun, fast read. If you enjoy spooky stories. If you enjoy a side of creep-fest with your plot. If you enjoy everything working out...well, I'll save that for you to find out - then you will enjoy this novel.

Poison Apple books by Scholastic - take a bite out of one! I'm off to devour another one of the delectable reads.

Poison Novels:

The Dead End by Mimi McCoy

This Totally Bites by Ruth Ames

Miss Fortune by Brandi Dougherty

Now You See Me... by Jane B. Mason & Sarah Hines Stephens

I believe the novels were published in this order, but don't quote me on that. If you know me, I own all of them, so you can simply borrow one from me. I don't usually see them in B&N, so I order them from Amazon.