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Sebastian Barth #2
Eat Your Poison, Dear
Cafeteria food may be hazardous to your health.
Poor Milo Groot -- he's sprawled on the cafeteria floor, his cracked glasses inches away from his white face. Could it be the apple chili dogs?
Could it be poison?
Kids at the middle school are dropping like flies, and Sebastian Barth suspects there's something fishier than tuna dreamboats behind the epidemic. The trouble is, too many cooks have had the chance to spoil the stew.
Sebastian finds out.
At least he thinks he does, but he soon discovers that whipping up a dramatic disclosure without all the ingredients is a recipe for disaster.
Poor Milo Groot -- he's sprawled on the cafeteria floor, his cracked glasses inches away from his white face. Could it be the apple chili dogs?
Could it be poison?
Kids at the middle school are dropping like flies, and Sebastian Barth suspects there's something fishier than tuna dreamboats behind the epidemic. The trouble is, too many cooks have had the chance to spoil the stew.
Sebastian finds out.
At least he thinks he does, but he soon discovers that whipping up a dramatic disclosure without all the ingredients is a recipe for disaster.
144 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1986
5 people are currently reading
101 people want to read
About the author
James Howe
218 books461 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
James Howe has written more than eighty books in the thirty-plus years he's been writing for young readers. It sometimes confuses people that the author of the humorous Bunnicula series also wrote the dark young adult novel, The Watcher, or such beginning reader series as Pinky and Rex and the E.B. White Read Aloud Award-winning Houndsley and Catina and its sequels. But from the beginning of his career (which came about somewhat by accident after asking himself what kind of vampire a rabbit might make), he has been most interested in letting his imagination take him in whatever direction it cared to. So far, his imagination has led him to picture books, such as I Wish I Were a Butterfly and Brontorina (about a dinosaur who dreams of being a ballerina), mysteries, poetry (in the upcoming Addie on the Inside), and fiction that deals with issues that matter deeply to him. He is especially proud of The Misfits, which inspired national No Name-Calling Week (www.nonamecallingweek.org) and its sequel Totally Joe. He does not know where his imagination will take him in the next thirty-plus years, but he is looking forward to finding out.
Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
James Howe has written more than eighty books in the thirty-plus years he's been writing for young readers. It sometimes confuses people that the author of the humorous Bunnicula series also wrote the dark young adult novel, The Watcher, or such beginning reader series as Pinky and Rex and the E.B. White Read Aloud Award-winning Houndsley and Catina and its sequels. But from the beginning of his career (which came about somewhat by accident after asking himself what kind of vampire a rabbit might make), he has been most interested in letting his imagination take him in whatever direction it cared to. So far, his imagination has led him to picture books, such as I Wish I Were a Butterfly and Brontorina (about a dinosaur who dreams of being a ballerina), mysteries, poetry (in the upcoming Addie on the Inside), and fiction that deals with issues that matter deeply to him. He is especially proud of The Misfits, which inspired national No Name-Calling Week (www.nonamecallingweek.org) and its sequel Totally Joe. He does not know where his imagination will take him in the next thirty-plus years, but he is looking forward to finding out.
Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 32 reviews
November 21, 2017
A fun and engaging middle grade mystery. This is a fast read. There aren't many characters and I'm surprised that I didn't figure it out until right before the reveal. I must be stressed. So it was a good read set in the bowels of Junior High School.
Is the head cook, Dottie, poisoning the student's, is it just her bad cooking, or is something more nefarious happening. Sebastian is the sleuth and he figures it all out. He also runs his own television show.
This was in my TBR pile from my childhood in the 80s. I decided while I'm on break to read a few of these old books that are lying around. It is fun and a great read after the stress of my school year. So, sometimes it may take 30 years, but I'll read it eventually. James Howe is a solid writer for middle grade and I'm glad I found him again. I want to read all 4 books in this series. Sebastian is a good character.
Is the head cook, Dottie, poisoning the student's, is it just her bad cooking, or is something more nefarious happening. Sebastian is the sleuth and he figures it all out. He also runs his own television show.
This was in my TBR pile from my childhood in the 80s. I decided while I'm on break to read a few of these old books that are lying around. It is fun and a great read after the stress of my school year. So, sometimes it may take 30 years, but I'll read it eventually. James Howe is a solid writer for middle grade and I'm glad I found him again. I want to read all 4 books in this series. Sebastian is a good character.
March 6, 2020
Sebastian Barth is an eighth grader at Pembroke Middle School.
One day at lunch, they are serving "apple lasagna." A kid named Milo throws it up.
Milo has one friend at school, and that friend doesn't like him very much. Milo is especially disliked by a kid named Harley. Harley has bullied him since first grade.
Milo comes back to school the next day, saying it was a twenty-four hour bug. The next day, Milo gets the bug again. Sebastian suspects someone is poisoning him. Milo is the only one who has the bug, and everyone is eating the cafeteria food.
Sebastian goes to visit Milo while he's sick. David, one of his friends, comes along. They tell him about the possible poisoning. Milo wants in on solving the mystery. David reminds them, it might just be the flu.
Food inspectors that had come to the school, had not found anything dangerous in the meals.
One normal day at school, seventy-seven kids all threw up their lunch. The school cancels for the rest of the day.
The next day, no one is allowed in the cafeteria.
Harley confesses, even being innocent. He loses his friends, and hides away from everybody. Sebastian fells sorry for him, but continues to solve the mystery.
In the end, Milo is guilty, but only Sebastian knows. He tells Milo that if he doesn't confess, a lot of people will be in trouble.
This is a quick read. I recommend it to kids in middle school.
One day at lunch, they are serving "apple lasagna." A kid named Milo throws it up.
Milo has one friend at school, and that friend doesn't like him very much. Milo is especially disliked by a kid named Harley. Harley has bullied him since first grade.
Milo comes back to school the next day, saying it was a twenty-four hour bug. The next day, Milo gets the bug again. Sebastian suspects someone is poisoning him. Milo is the only one who has the bug, and everyone is eating the cafeteria food.
Sebastian goes to visit Milo while he's sick. David, one of his friends, comes along. They tell him about the possible poisoning. Milo wants in on solving the mystery. David reminds them, it might just be the flu.
Food inspectors that had come to the school, had not found anything dangerous in the meals.
One normal day at school, seventy-seven kids all threw up their lunch. The school cancels for the rest of the day.
The next day, no one is allowed in the cafeteria.
Harley confesses, even being innocent. He loses his friends, and hides away from everybody. Sebastian fells sorry for him, but continues to solve the mystery.
In the end, Milo is guilty, but only Sebastian knows. He tells Milo that if he doesn't confess, a lot of people will be in trouble.
This is a quick read. I recommend it to kids in middle school.
January 7, 2020
this book had 10 year old me shocked for years
March 8, 2023
It was a good book but it was a little hard to follow near the end of the book
April 28, 2009
I am finsihed with the book so here is my book summary.
so basically, this book is mainly about the lunch served in the cafeteria. One day, subastain and friends were in the cafeteria and the apple lunch specail has started for the month. Milo has gotten his lunch and looked at it strange and so did the others, it took a while for milos lunch to be served though. when they were eating their lunch, at the end, Milo has ended up throwing up. Everyone was conserned about him. Milo took the day off.The next day Milo has ate lunch and threw up again. subastain has been thinking that someone in the cafeteria is poisning Milo. the case is up and the heat is heating up for the real answer.
I empathized on Subastain because i nmow how it feels to lose a friend for a long while. I would do anything I can to find out whats wrong with him, just like subastian did.
I learned from this book is that you should always be on your guard even when you think you are safe because everything is posible in every place.
so basically, this book is mainly about the lunch served in the cafeteria. One day, subastain and friends were in the cafeteria and the apple lunch specail has started for the month. Milo has gotten his lunch and looked at it strange and so did the others, it took a while for milos lunch to be served though. when they were eating their lunch, at the end, Milo has ended up throwing up. Everyone was conserned about him. Milo took the day off.The next day Milo has ate lunch and threw up again. subastain has been thinking that someone in the cafeteria is poisning Milo. the case is up and the heat is heating up for the real answer.
I empathized on Subastain because i nmow how it feels to lose a friend for a long while. I would do anything I can to find out whats wrong with him, just like subastian did.
I learned from this book is that you should always be on your guard even when you think you are safe because everything is posible in every place.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 29, 2016
Okay I must say that this is, in fact, a good book. It's the kind of book that I call "mystery for children" because it is!
The final is interesting and maybe my problem was that I haven't read the complet series so I start the book being "blind" about the content. However I think it's a good decision to read if you want to explore the mystery genre but you are afraid to read a big-thriller book.
The Best: The mystery itself.
The Worst: Well...it's a children book so let's be flexible.
The final is interesting and maybe my problem was that I haven't read the complet series so I start the book being "blind" about the content. However I think it's a good decision to read if you want to explore the mystery genre but you are afraid to read a big-thriller book.
The Best: The mystery itself.
The Worst: Well...it's a children book so let's be flexible.
April 16, 2013
Unusual premise, but little more.
The local junior high is suffering from an epidemic of food poisoning. Can Sebastian Barth find out who did it and how?
It's okay. The book itself is kind of meh, with a surprisingly serious ending. It's not a black comedy; the kids get minor cases of food poisoning and aren't really dropping like flies. I think there might be a few too many characters in the book, but other than that, it's an okay mystery by the author of Bunnicula.
The local junior high is suffering from an epidemic of food poisoning. Can Sebastian Barth find out who did it and how?
It's okay. The book itself is kind of meh, with a surprisingly serious ending. It's not a black comedy; the kids get minor cases of food poisoning and aren't really dropping like flies. I think there might be a few too many characters in the book, but other than that, it's an okay mystery by the author of Bunnicula.
December 18, 2007
sometimes in life you just can't trust anyone because when you do, they just happen to stab you in the back.
January 4, 2008
I have loved this book since I was a child. I read it every couple of years.
November 28, 2008
It was...ok...
October 8, 2009
This is my favorite in the Sebastian Barth mystery series for two reasons: the story (of course) and the title.
September 19, 2010
Another half inch of shelf space cleared.
October 5, 2010
A very good book by one of my favorite childrens' authors.
February 5, 2013
Great childhood book
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October 13, 2013uhh ok not that good
November 5, 2013
Read this to my self contained special education class. The boys seemed to enjoy it. Not as much action as other books we have read, but it kept their attention.
February 5, 2014
Well the book is really good half way done good so far
January 14, 2015
An amazing plot twist.
June 25, 2015
James Howe does funny mystery quite well.
September 3, 2015
A Youth mystery by the author of Bunnicula. Not as good as Bunnicula.
September 24, 2016
I loved this series
January 4, 2017
This was a nice mystery with an interesting twist. I recommend it to anyone looking for a very light read or a third- or fourth-grade student looking for a good mystery.
June 12, 2025
For an explanation of why I read this book, click here.
I like the Bunnicula books, so I've been picking up other of James Howe's juvenile novels here and there. This is the first one I've read. The beginning is extremely rocky. This is book 2 in the series, so most of the characters were introduced in the previous book, but Howe doesn't do anything to prompt the reader's memory (or make it easy on someone who, like me, is coming to it with no prior experience). So it took me a couple of chapters to work out who people were in relation to each other, and I mainly had to bull ahead and hope it would make sense eventually.
It's a fun story with a good mystery, and I didn't figure out who the villain was in advance, so there's that. I was curious, going in, how a mystery of this type would work. It's more mature than, say, David Adler's Cam Jansen series or the Jigsaw Jones mysteries, but not quite as fully realized as the Sammy Keyes mysteries. And it ended up being a solid story. It just didn't start that way, which weakened it considerably.
I did like that Sebastian goes to his friend's father, who is a minister, when he has questions about morality and philosophy (in addition to talking to his parents). This solves the problem juvenile and YA novels sometimes has with letting the kids have agency without their parents and teachers being hopelessly negligent: the adults repeatedly tell the kids to stay out of the search, and the kids investigate only within their realistic sphere of influence.
I'm curious about the rest of the series, but I'll stop at this one for now.
I like the Bunnicula books, so I've been picking up other of James Howe's juvenile novels here and there. This is the first one I've read. The beginning is extremely rocky. This is book 2 in the series, so most of the characters were introduced in the previous book, but Howe doesn't do anything to prompt the reader's memory (or make it easy on someone who, like me, is coming to it with no prior experience). So it took me a couple of chapters to work out who people were in relation to each other, and I mainly had to bull ahead and hope it would make sense eventually.
It's a fun story with a good mystery, and I didn't figure out who the villain was in advance, so there's that. I was curious, going in, how a mystery of this type would work. It's more mature than, say, David Adler's Cam Jansen series or the Jigsaw Jones mysteries, but not quite as fully realized as the Sammy Keyes mysteries. And it ended up being a solid story. It just didn't start that way, which weakened it considerably.
I did like that Sebastian goes to his friend's father, who is a minister, when he has questions about morality and philosophy (in addition to talking to his parents). This solves the problem juvenile and YA novels sometimes has with letting the kids have agency without their parents and teachers being hopelessly negligent: the adults repeatedly tell the kids to stay out of the search, and the kids investigate only within their realistic sphere of influence.
I'm curious about the rest of the series, but I'll stop at this one for now.
October 21, 2019
This book is good for people who like a mystery. This book was not for me it was boring and took a long time for me to read it because it was boring. It's about a group of middle schoolers who are trying to figure out if and who poisoned the school's lunch. the reveal at the end was surprising.
May 24, 2025
What a book. I went in expecting something that would be childish and simple and got so much more. While easy to read it touches on topics of bulling, child abuse, job loss, alcoholism and revenge. A real fine book.
March 27, 2019
i think the theme of this book is mystery. They find the food gross and they try and see if somebody is poising them. And it was very engaging.
December 12, 2020
A fun read, not bad for YA. But Bunnicula is still my favorite by this author.
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November 23, 2021I am almost positive I read this book in fourth grade but I only remember the how and who of who did it in the mystery and almost nothing else .. . .
December 8, 2021
Third installment of the Sebastian Barth mystery series for middle and YA readers. A good addition to the set, but the first is still better.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 32 reviews