SOLVED. Children's. perspective of two main characters, boy starts off naked in a forest, girl forced to drink tea, something with bugs? [s]

[Oliver]

I read this in the early 2000s I think.

There are two main characters, the perspective switches between them each chapter. They might have had different fonts.

The boy starts off running naked in a forest I think. He might have been covered in bugs, or that might have happened later, or maybe there were just bugs on the cover. It’s possible the boy was called Rodney, but I think probably not.

The girl is forced to drink a tea at some point by people who hold her nose to make her open her mouth. Maybe the tea is made from the bugs? The tea will make her forget stuff, or make her more compliant or something.

I think the bugs might be blue. If they exist…

This has been plaguing me for months please help.

[Oliver]

I think the boy starts off with no memory of what he’s doing there

[Kate]

Oliver ~~
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Good luck!

[Becca]

This sounds like Deadly! by Morris Gleitzman and Paul Jennings. It was also published as six mini books, the first of which is Nude. This edition of Deadly! has bugs on the cover:

[Capn]

If it's a vintage one, it sounds a bit like The Golden Key by George MacDonald (but it looks like Becca nailed it, nevermind!)

[Oliver]

Yes it was deadly! Thanks a million!

[Lobstergirl, au gratin]

Fantastic.