Remember Are You Afraid of the Dark? If you were born sometime in the 1990s, your answer should be a resounding "YES!" A variation on The Twilight Zone format,  the anthology series on Nickelodeon told scary stories, using kids around a camp fire (instead of Rod Serling) as a way to relay the spooky tales.

 Now, one of the show's former writers, Wendy Brotherlin has debuted a YA novel that combines science fiction and romance. Freaks of Nature (The Prison Chronicles) tells about the aftermath of a terrible Ebola epidemic in the year 2022. Millions died before a cure was found and the disease left a bunch of "psionic freaks who can turn a single thought into a weapon… or worse." Sounds a lot like Anthony Fremont from "It's A Good Life.

Anyway, the main plot focuses on 15-year-old freak Devon McWilliams, who can--wait for it--can talk to plants. He gets captured by the military who plans to use him for experimentation of some sort. Come on, we've all seen X-Men! He must try and survive along with six other prisoners who are way more deadly than him. Brotherlin said the book was inspired by playing Dungeons and Dragons as a kid as psionic powers were part of the game.

Images courtesy of Wendy Brotherlin