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Everything Is Poison
Play sample
  • Published: 11 February 2025
  • ISBN: 9780593855874
  • Imprint: Dutton
  • Format: Hardback
  • Pages: 304
  • RRP: $44.99

Everything Is Poison

Formats & editions
Paperback
31 Mar 2026
EBook
14 Jan 2025
Audiobook
14 Jan 2025
Audiobook
14 Jan 2025
Hardback
11 Feb 2025
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A Blood Water Paint-style historical YA in prose and verse from New York Times bestselling author Joy McCullough.

A CHICAGO PUBLIC LIBRARY BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR • This young adult historical novel tells the story of the women who risk everything to provide care for those with nowhere else to turn and the deadly secrets hiding in plain sight.

“Bracing . . . Enrapturing . . . This eloquent, rapid-fire novel is rich in cadence and history.”—Publishers Weekly, starred review

“An unforgettable novel of courage, chemistry, and female solidarity in a casually violent, misogynistic world.”—The Horn Book, starred review

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 work-room, 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.

  • Published: 11 February 2025
  • ISBN: 9780593855874
  • Imprint: Dutton
  • Format: Hardback
  • Pages: 304
  • RRP: $44.99
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About the author

Joy McCullough

Joy McCullough is a playwright and the New York Times bestselling author of several 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.
portrait photo of Joy McCullough

Also by Joy McCullough

Enter the Body
How to Train Your Evil Robot
Suffer a Witch
Great or Nothing
We Are the Ashes, We Are the Fire
Champ and Major: First Dogs
Blood Water Paint
See all

Praise for Everything Is Poison

Praise for Joy McCullough

"Haunting ... [Blood Water Paint] does not read like historical fiction. It teems with raw emotion, and McCullough deftly captures the experience of learning to behave in a male-driven society and then breaking outside of it."—The New Yorker

"An impassioned, lushly described account of a young woman who refuses to dwell in secret shame. Blood Water Paint fits smoothly into the current conversation surrounding the #MeToo movement."—Chicago Tribune

*"Intense, unrelenting, and inspiring."—Kirkus, starred review

"Radically creative... This provocative book could inspire all kinds of fresh approaches to the plays, not to mention lots of engaging writing projects for students."—Washington Post

Praise for La Tofana's Poison Emporium, McCullough's play based on the same material

"A world premiere play, set in the 1650's, that resonates so much with today? That's what we currently have from Macha Theatre Works with their production of 'La Tofana's Poison Emporium.' While this piece presents an actual murderess/savior from history, it also deftly correlates to the woes of today and presents them with humor and heart." —Broadwayworld.com