Everything Is Poison

Ages 14 And Up, Grades 9 And Up

A Blood Water Paint-style historical YA in prose and verse from New York Times bestselling author Joy McCullough.

Early Seventeenth-Century Rome

For as long as she can remember, Carmela Tofana has desperately wanted one thing: to be a part of La Tofana’s, her mother’s apothecary in Campo Marzio, Rome. When she finally turns sixteen, she’s allowed into the inner sanctum: the workroom where her mother and two assistants craft renowned remedies for their customers. But for every sweet-smelling flower extract in the workroom, there’s another potion requiring darker ingredients. And then there’s Aqua Tofana, the apothecary’s remedy of last resort. In all Carmela’s years of wishing to follow in her mother’s footsteps, she never realized one tiny vial could be the death of them all. 

Everything Is Poison is a story of a deadly secret hiding in plain sight and of the women who risk everything to provide care for those with nowhere else to turn.

About the Author

Joy McCullough is a playwright and the New York Times bestselling author of many books for children and young adults, including Blood Water Paint, which was longlisted for the National Book Award and was a finalist for the William C. Morris Award. She studied theater at Northwestern University, fell in love with her husband atop a Guatemalan volcano, and writes books and plays from her home in the Seattle area.

Author Residence: Seattle

Author Hometown: San Diego