The bestselling novel that inspired Mervyn LeRoy’s classic horror film about the little girl who can get away with anything—even murder. There’s something special about eight-year-old Rhoda Penmark. With her carefully plaited hair and her sweet cotton dresses, she’s the very picture of old-fashioned innocence. But when their neighborhood suffers a series of terrible accidents, her mother begins to wonder: Why do bad things seem to happen when little Rhoda is around? Originally published in 1954, William March’s final novel was an instant bestseller and National Book Award finalist before it was adapted for the stage and made into a 1956 film. The Bad Seed is an indelible portrait of an evil that wears an innocent face, one which still resonates in popular culture today. With a new foreword by Anna Holmes. Vintage Movie Classics spotlights classic films that have stood the test of time, now rediscovered through the publication of the novels on which they were based.

The Bad Seed

The bad seed changes his mind about being bad and decides that he wants to be happy.

From The Omen to The Good Son, American pop culture has produced a legion of bad seed spinoffs. For his novel, William March draws on actual case histories to explore a serious question: What happens to ordinary families into whose midst a criminal is born? Featuring a cast of memorable characters, The Bad Seed is a solid suspense story that's more chilling, more intelligent, and far more absorbing that its Hollywood namesake.

Love, betrayal and murder. He’s the new kid in town, complete with a sordid past and a tarnished family name, doomed to fail even before he begins. Jenna is the only person who sees beyond Joey’s past and they fall deeply in love. But there are already forces determined to separate the pair by any means necessary. Tommy, the thug, who is hell bent on breaking Joey by brute force, Jenna’s mother, whose connection with Joey cannot be ignored, and Joey’s own past, the strongest weapon against them. Only Tim, the local police officer, shows any compassion to the plight of Joey and Jenna, but is Tim all he seems? And what role will he play in their fate? Can young love survive in a town filled with discrimination? Can Joey and Jenna get out before they fall apart, or is it already too late?

The Bad Seed borrows an awesome book from the library in this Level One I Can Read by the #1 New York Times bestselling duo Jory John and Pete Oswald! The Bad Seed is in a good mood…for once. That’s because there’s a really cool book at the library available for checkout. The Bad Seed reads, and reads, until the book can’t be read anymore. But suddenly, he gets bad news: The book must be returned to the library so another seed can enjoy it. Will the bad seed return to his baaaaaad ways and keep the book? Pick up this really cool book to find out! The Bad Seed Goes to the Library is a Level 1 I Can Read book, which means it's perfect for children learning to sound out words and sentences. Whether shared at home or in a classroom, the short sentences, familiar words, and simple concepts of Level One books support success for children eager to start reading on their own.

The Bad Seed Goes to the Library

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