Volume 1 - The
Bad Beginning
Make no mistake. The Bad Beginning begins badly for the three Baudelaire
children, and then gets worse. Their misfortunes begin one gray day on
Briny Beach when Mr. Poe tells them that their parents perished in a fire
that destroyed their whole house. "It is useless for me to describe to
you how terrible Violet, Klaus, and even Sunny felt in the time that followed,"
laments the personable (occasionally pedantic) narrator, who tells the
story as if his readers are gathered around an armchair on pillows. But
of course what follows is dreadful. The children thought it was bad when
the well-meaning Poes bought them grotesque-colored clothing that itched.
But when they are ushered to the dilapidated doorstep of the miserable,
thin, unshaven, shiny-eyed, money-grubbing Count Olaf, they know that they--and
their family fortune--are in real trouble. Still, they could never have
anticipated how much trouble. (Ages 9 and older) --Karin Snelson - Amazon.com
Hardcover: 176 pages ; Dimensions (in inches): 0.74 x
7.26 x 5.32
Publisher: HarperTrophy; Rough Cut edition (August 1999)
ISBN: 0064407667
Volume 2 - The
Reptile Room
The Reptile Room begins where Lemony Snicket's The Bad Beginning ends...
on the road with the three orphaned Baudelaire children as they are whisked
away from the evil Count Olaf to face "an unknown fate with some unknown
relative." But who is this Dr. Montgomery, their late father's cousin's
wife's brother? "Would Dr. Montgomery be a kind person? they wondered.
Would he at least be better than Count Olaf? Could he possibly be worse?"
He certainly is not worse, and in fact when the Baudelaire children discover
that he makes coconut cream cakes, circles the globe looking for snakes
to study, and even plans to take them with him on his scientific expedition
to Peru, the kids can't believe their luck. And, if you have read the first
book in this Series of Unfortunate Events, you won't believe their luck
either. Despite the misadventures that befall these interesting, intelligent,
resourceful orphans, you can trust that the engaging narrator will make
their story--suspenseful and alarming as it is--a true delight.
(Ages 9 and older) --Karin Snelson - Amazon.com
Volume 3 - The
Wide Window
In The Bad Beginning, things, well, begin badly for the three Baudelaire
orphans. And sadly, events only worsen in The Reptile Room. In the third
in Lemony Snicket's Series of Unfortunate Events, The Wide Window, there
is still no hope on the horizon for these poor children. Their adventures
are exciting and memorable, but, as the author points out, "exciting and
memorable like being chased by a werewolf through a field of thorny bushes
at midnight with nobody around to help you." This story begins when the
orphans are being escorted by the well-meaning Mr. Poe to yet another distant
relative who has agreed to take them in since their parents were killed
in a horrible fire. Aunt Josephine, their new guardian, is their second
cousin's sister-in-law, and she is afraid of everything. Her house (perched
precariously on a cliff above Lake Lachrymose) is freezing because she
is afraid of the radiator exploding, she eats cold cucumber soup because
she's afraid of the stove, and she doesn't answer the telephone due to
potential electrocution dangers. Her greatest joy in life is grammar, however,
and when it comes to the proper use of the English language, she is fearless.
But just when she should be the most fearful--when Count Olaf creeps his
way back to find the Baudelaire orphans and steal their fortune--she somehow
lets her guard down. Once again, it is up to Violet, Klaus, and Sunny to
get themselves out of danger. Will they succeed? We haven't the stomach
to tell you.
Volume 4 - The
Miserable Mill
"The Baudelaire orphans looked out the grimy window of the train and
gazed at the gloomy blackness of the Finite Forest, wondering if their
lives would ever get better," begins The Miserable Mill. If you have been
introduced to the three Baudelaire orphans in any of Lemony Snicket's previous
novels, you know that not only will their lives not get better, they will
get much worse. In the fourth installment in the "Series of Unfortunate
Events," the sorrowful siblings, having once again narrowly escaped the
clutches of the evil Count Olaf, are escorted by the kindly but ineffectual
Mr. Poe to their newest "home" at the Lucky Smells Lumbermill. Much to
their horror (if not surprise), their dormitory at the mill is crowded
and damp, they are forced to work with spinning saw blades, they are fed
only one meal a day (not counting the chewing gum they get for lunch),
and worst of all, Count Olaf lurks in a dreadful disguise as Shirley the
receptionist just down the street. Not even the clever wordplay and ludicrous
plot twists could keep this story buoyant--reading about the mean-spirited
foreman, the deadly blades, poor Klaus (hypnotized and "reprogrammed"),
and the relentless hopelessness of the children's situation only made us
feel gloomy. Fans of these wickedly funny, suspenseful adventures won't
want to miss out on a single one, but we're hoping the next tales have
the delicate balance of delight and disaster we've come to expect from
this exciting series.
Volume 5 - The
Austere Academy
As the three Baudelaire orphans warily approach their new home--Prufrock
Preparatory School--they can't help but notice the enormous stone arch
bearing the school's motto Memento Mori, or "Remember you will die." This
is not a cheerful greeting, and certainly marks an inauspicious beginning
to a very bleak story. Of course, this is what we have come to expect from
Lemony Snicket's Series of Unfortunate Events, the deliciously morbid set
of books that began with The Bad Beginning and only got worse. In The Austere
Academy, Violet, Klaus, and Sunny are at first optimistic--attending school
is a welcome change for the book-loving trio, and the academy is allegedly
safe from the dreaded Count Olaf, who is after their fortune. Hope dissipates
quickly, however, when they meet Vice Principal Nero, a self-professed
genius violinist who sneeringly imitates their every word. More dreadful
still, he houses them in the tin Orphans Shack, crawling with toe-biting
crabs and dripping with a mysterious tan fungus. A beam of light shines
through the despair when the Baudelaires meet the Quagmires, two of three
orphaned triplets who are no strangers to disaster and sympathize with
their predicament. When Count Olaf appears on the scene disguised as Coach
Genghis (covering his monobrow with a turban and his ankle tattoo with
expensive running shoes), the Quagmires resolve to come to the aid of their
new friends. Sadly, this proves to be a hideous mistake.
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Fans of Lemony Snicket's wonderful Series of Unfortunate Events
won't be surprised to find that in the sixth installment the three Baudelaire
orphans' new home proves to be something of a mixed bag. As our ever sad
but helpful narrator states, "Although 'a mixed bag' sometimes refers to
a plastic bag that has been stirred in a bowl, more often it is used to
describe a situation that has both good parts and bad parts. An afternoon
at the movie theater, for instance, would be a mixed bag if your favorite
movie were showing, but if you had to eat gravel instead of popcorn. A
trip to the zoo would be a very mixed bag if the weather were beautiful,
but all of the man-and woman-eating lions were running around loose." And
so it is for the bad-luck Baudelaires. Their fancy new 71-bedroom home
on 667 Dark Avenue is inhabited by Esmé Gigi Geniveve Squalor (the city's
sixth most important financial advisor), and her kindly husband, Jerome,
who doesn't like to argue. Esmé is obsessed by the trends du jour (orphans
are "in"), and because elevators are "out," Sunny, Violet, and Klaus have
to trudge up 66 flights of stairs to reach the Squalors' penthouse apartment.
(Other unfortunate trends include pinstripe suits, aqueous martinis--water
with a faint olive-y taste--parsley soda, and ocean decorations.) As the
book begins, the Baudelaires are not only frightened in anticipation of
their next (inevitable) encounter with the evil, moneygrubbing Count Olaf
but they are also mourning the disappearance of their dear new friends
from The Austere Academy, the Quagmires. It doesn't take long for Olaf
to show up in another of his horrific disguises... but if he is on Dark
Avenue, what has he done with the Quagmires? Once again, the resourceful
orphans use their unique talents (Violet's inventions, Klaus's research
skills, and the infant Sunny's strong teeth) in a fruitless attempt to
escape from terrible tragedy. Is there a gleam of hope for the orphans
and their new friends? Most certainly not.
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Volume 7 - The
Vile Village
The seventh book in Lemony Snicket's splendidly gloomy Series of Unfortunate
Events shadows the three Baudelaire orphans as they plummet headlong into
their next misadventure. Mr. Poe, their ineffective legal guardian, having
exhausted all options for finding them a new home with relatives (including
their 19th cousin), sadly entrusts his young charges' fate to a progressive
guardian program formed with the premise "It takes a village to raise a
child." Before they know it, the Baudelaires are being whisked off on a
bus to a village (vile) named "V.F.D." Snicket fans who read The Austere
Academy and The Ersatz Elevator will jump to see these three initials,
as they provide a clue to the tragic disappearance of the Baudelaires'
friends, the beloved, equally orphaned Quagmire triplets. To the orphans'
dismay, V.F.D. is covered in crows--so much so that the whole village is
pitch-black and trembling. "The crows weren't squawking or cawing, which
is what crows often do, or playing the trumpet, which crows practically
never do, but the town was far from silent. The air was filled with the
sounds the crows made as they moved around." Another disturbing element
of the town is that the Council of Elders (who wear creepy crow hats) has
thousands of rules, such as "don't hurt crows" and "don't build mechanical
devices." Fortunately, the Baudelaires are taken in by a kindly handyman
named Hector who cooks them delicious Mexican food and secretly breaks
rules. Still, neither Hector nor an entire village can protect the orphans
from the clutches of the money-grubbing Count Olaf, who has relentlessly
pursued them (actually, just their fortune) since The Bad Beginning.
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As you might expect, nothing but woe befalls the unlucky Baudelaire
orphans in the eighth grim tale in Lemony Snicket's Series of Unfortunate
Events. Ever since the orphans' photographs were plastered across the front
page of The Daily Punctilio in an article falsely accusing them of murder,
they have been on the run. Only when they disguise themselves as cheerful
hospital volunteers (Volunteers Fighting Disease, to be exact), do they
see a possible refuge. Of course, this backfires hideously. Where is their
ineffectual guardian, Mr. Poe, when they need him most? Will the evil,
greedy Count Olaf be successful in giving poor Violet a cranioectomy at
the Heimlich Hospital? Is a heart-shaped balloon really better than water
for a thirsty patient? Is no news really good news? As ever, Snicket refuses
to comfort young readers with cozy answers and satisfying escapes. And,
as ever, there are plenty of rusty blades and horrible plot twists to make
us shudder and shameless-but-hilarious wordplay to make us grimace happily.
Bring on the next one! --Karin Snelson - Amazon.com
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Volume 9 - The
Carnivorous Carnival
In the ninth title in Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events,
The Carnivorous Carnival, the Baudelaire siblings are falsely accused of
murder. On the run from Count Olaf (the real killer), the three disguise
themselves in Madame Lulu's House of Freaks; Violet and Klaus masquerade
as the two-headed Beverly/Elliot; Sunny poses as Chabo the Wolf Baby.
Lemony
Snicket - The Unauthorized Autobiography
Lemony Snicket: The Unauthorized Autobiography is bizarre, abstruse
("a word which here means 'cryptic'"), and truly entertaining. Would you
expect anything less from the mystery man behind A Series of Unfortunate
Events (The Bad Beginning, The Ersatz Elevator, etc.)? Virtually every
detail of the volume has Snicket's indelible mark, from the book jacket
(reversible to help readers disguise this "extremely dangerous" and "objectionable"
autobiography) to the copyright page text to the intentionally blurry and
bewildering black-and-white photographs appearing throughout. An apparently
false obituary for Lemony Snicket sets the stage for what turns into a
series of mind-boggling bundles of coded information passed from hand to
hand, gleaned from newspapers blowing through streets, pages from a journal
addressed to "Dear Dairy," blueprints of ships, minutes from secret meetings,
and a lot of edited and disputed commentary. The question is, do we finally
discover the meaning of VFD? You know you're not going to get a straight
answer. But any fan of Snicket will have a lot of fun trying. (Ages 9 and
older) --Emilie Coulter
Boxed Sets
A
Box of Unfortunate Events: The Trouble Begins
Volumes 1-3
A Library of Unfortunate Events
Volumes 1-9
Out of Print - Try Used
Books
2005 Lemony Snicket Calendar
Listed under Children's
Calendars
