Review - April Fools by Tankersley Cusick - Ramblings of a Coffee Addicted Writer

April Fools
BY: Riche Tankersley Cusick
PUBLISHED BY: Scholastic
PUBLISHED IN: 1990
ISBN: 0-590-43115-3
Pages: 218
Reviewed by Billy Burgess

Belinda, Frank and Hildy went joyriding on the night of April 1st. Frank flickered the headlights on and off for fun, or so they thought. They caused a terrible car accident that night. The other car blew up, so there was no hope of survival. Belinda and her friends left the scene of the crime. Two weeks go by, and Belinda no has a guilty conscience. Her friends tell her to just forget about it and get on with your life.

She is hired by Mrs. Thorne to tutor her stepson, eighteen-year-old Adam, who is recovering from a terrible illness or was it an accident. He doesn’t want anyone to see his face because of the burns. Adam is still grieving the fact that his father is in the hospital and is not suppose to survive much longer.

Belinda has trouble tutoring Adam, as he doesn’t want any help. Then, to make matters worse, strange things start happening. She receives a bloody doll’s head and a car nearly runs her over. Are these just pranks? Or did someone see Belinda and her friends on April Fools night?

Riche Tankersley Cusick wrote several of the books from the Point Horror era and a few Buffy the Vampire Slayer tie-ins. I had my doubts about the book after I finished reading the Prologue. The plot of Belinda and her friends driving carelessly and leaving the scene of the accident is somewhat of a cliché in the YA thriller/horror books. As the story progresses, April Fools became a different story, concentrating on Belinda’s tutoring jog and the strange events that surround her. Most of the book takes place two weeks after April 1st, which is kind of misleading. The story would have been more convincing if there was a year difference between the prologue and the rest of the story, instead of two weeks. I still found the book enjoyable and fast to read. You’ll quickly turn the pages to find out who is behind the pranks. This is a great book to read around April Fools Day.