High School

Guard your Mind: A Review of ‘Poisoned Apples’

“She is clothed in strength and dignity and laughs without fear of the future.”–Proverbs 31:25

Suggested Grade Levels:

Grades 9-12

Review and Thoughts

My mother raised me to be a strong woman.  She always told us we could be anything we wanted to be and taught us to fight for our right to do certain things.  My mother ALSO taught us that we were still women.  She taught us that God had created us with special gifts and beauties that men do not possess and because of that, we have a lot to offer the world because of our sex. My feminism is strong, but I acknowledge my weaknesses and am appreciative of the strengths of the men I am surrounded by.  Our different strengths and weaknesses complement each other and we are better for having both sexes.  Perhaps this is why I had such a difficult time reading Poisoned Apples by Christine Hepperman.

I was very excited to begin reading this book.  I found it on the Harper Collins Common Core List for High School Readers.  I was intrigued by the idea of modernizing fairy tales to fit today’s world, but as I read it, I became more and more disappointed and disgusted.

This book saddens me when I imagine that this is the life that young girls live.  Don’t get me wrong, I don’t pretend to be naïve nor do I want to shelter myself from the “tough issues” of today, but as another reviewer put it, “this was not my childhood.”  These poems do not connect with me.  I understand the value of shock in today’s literary world, but some of these poems seemed to be written for only that purpose.

While the majority of the poem were a disappointment.  I enjoyed the humor in some of the poems.  The poem “Abercrombie Dressing Room” made me laugh out loud when I read that “all the outfits were drenched in perfume.”  I found the poem “The Wicked Queen’s Legacy” quite intriguing the way she is constantly barraged by her reflection and is constantly taunted by her own appearance.  A hilarious retelling of Red Riding Hood and her make-up is a commentary on what beauty magazines do to women in “A Shape Magazine Fairy Tale.”  And my favorite poem in the collection, “Retelling,” retells the story of Rumpelstiltskin in which the princess stands up for herself, tells everyone no, and gets herself an education and a job.  A strong woman indeed!

The rest of the poems in the book were quite the disappointment as I read about drinking, drugs, sexual experimentation, sexual abuse, and masturbation.  I wish that there were more poems written for strong women that didn’t forgo morality.  I wish there were poems that taught girls to remember their value and femininity and the value of chastity and obedience.  In this day and age, that might be more shocking than the disappointment that is modern feminism.

Possible Issues

  • In the poem “Prince Charming”, Prince Charming comments on the girl’s boobs as they go on a date.
  • In the poem “A Brief History of Feminism” the game Simon Says is being played. “Simon” makes a girl hop in a sweater and bend over a few times.  He then has the girl come into his office and the poem insinuates he assaults her.
  • In the poem “Suburban Legends” there is a girl passing a joint, a boy putting his hand up a girl’s skirt, another girl takes off her shirt and puts it out the window.
  • In the poem “The First Anorexic” a girl discusses her issues with eating while being an anorexic.
  • In the poem “If Tampons Were for Guys” the speaker discusses how the marketing would be different when trying to sell the product. There would be a “bitchin” car, crotch sniffing girls (for scented pads), guys in the NFL would be on the DL List because of cramps.
  • In the poem “The Giant’s Daughter at Spring Formal” the giant’s daughter goes with Jack, who ends up being a little “feely” with her, her dad is also a drunk who she has to care for.
  • In the poem “The Anorexic Eats a Salad” the speaker is anorexic and discusses how hard it is to eat a salad.
  • The poem “A Witch’s Disenchantment” says “big tits”.
  • The poem “Sweet Nothings” talks about wearing bras and then discusses that when girls get boobs they become man’s best friend.
  • “First Semester Haiku” goes through different classes. In science class they smoke Earl Gray Tea to see if they can get high.  Virgin Math discusses “how many inches does it have to go in” and questions if “the tip counts”.  Art History says “screw you”.
  • “Vindictive Punctuation” teaches different punctuation rules using mean-spirited sentences.
  • In the poem “The Elves and the Anorexic” a girl puts out food at a party and then sips Pepsi 0 while everyone else eats.
  • “Runaway” says “f—k”.
  • “Health Class” pokes fun at the terrible and awkward sex education kids get in school, mentions periods, and discusses sperm swimming through condoms.
  • The poem “Transformation” uses the story tale of “The Princess and the Frog” and insinuates the transformation occurs because of masturbation.
  • “Light as a Feather, Stiff as a Board” is a poem about the game.
  • “Nature Lesson” talks about dress codes in school and the injustice of girls having to “cover up” to protect them from looking.
  • In the poem “Red Handed” Little Red Riding Hood steals from a store and goes to smoke with the wolf. She daydreams about being with him and the wolf fending off the woodsman.
  • The poem “Finders Keepers” talks about losing your virginity.
  • “Human Centipede Two” is about the movie.

Further Discussion

  • Talk to your kids about ANY and ALL of the moral issues listed above.
  • Talk to your kids about Catholic feminism and how it differs from modern-day secular feminism.  Use any of the links below to help with your discussions.

Catholic Resources

General Teaching Resources

  • Use this as a potential replacement book of poetry instead of Poisoned Apples.  
  • Use “Retelling” to analyze a strong female character. How is this character different from the original fairy tale?  Why does this character relate to today’s female better than the old?
  • Use “Retelling” as an example and write a different “fractured fairy tale” in the form of a poem.