(4) 4-6 Series of Unfortunate Events series. Illustrated by Brett Helquist. The Baudelaire siblings continue running from evil Count Olaf in this eleventh volume. Though the premise never changes and the authorial voice remains as self-consciously roguish as ever, this episode places the orphans in a new setting (a submarine), where they struggle with a new crisis (baby Sunny nearly expires from poison mushrooms), and an eventual happy ending is hinted at.

Reviewer: Peter D. Sieruta

(4) 4-6 Series of Unfortunate Events series. Illustrated by Brett Helquist. In this longer-than-usual installment, Violet and Klaus Baudelaire travel to the Mortmain Mountains in hopes of finding their little sister Sunny, who has been kidnapped by the evil Count Olaf. The Baudelaires meet up with an old friend, Count Olaf is betrayed by two members of his entourage, and the telling of this intentionally over-the-top story is as arch (and one-note) as ever.

Reviewer: Peter D. Sieruta

(4) 4-6 Series of Unfortunate Events series. Illustrated by Brett Helquist. Ever-victimized Violet, Klaus, and Sunny Baudelaire try to evade their nemesis Count Olaf by joining a carnival as sideshow freaks. The older siblings masquerade as a two-headed person, while Sunny dons a beard and pretends to be half-wolf. The series is formulaic but remains darkly humorous with Snicket providing his unique first-person commentary about bad things happening to good children.

Reviewer: Peter D. Sieruta

(4) 4-6 Series of Unfortunate Events series. Illustrated by Brett Helquist. Now ensconced in a penthouse with status-seeking guardians, the Baudelaire orphans fret about their friends (the missing Quagmire triplets) and enemies (the always-lurking Count Olaf). This installment also features an intriguing hint that the series' dedicatee, the ill-fated Beatrice, plays a role in the orphans' fate, though the plot devices and narrative voice remain unvaried from the previous five volumes in the series.

Reviewer: Peter D. Sieruta

(4) 4-6 Series of Unfortunate Events series. Illustrated by Brett Helquist. The orphans, still trying to evade Count Olaf, are adopted by a town that believes in the motto "It takes a village...." But before long, the villagers are ready to burn Violet, Klaus, and Sunny at the stake. They escape to the Heimlich Hospital, where Olaf and his cohorts nearly perform a grotesque operation on Violet. Though formulaic, the darkly humorous volumes show continuing character development. [Review covers these Series of Unfortunate Events titles: The Hostile Hospital and The Vile Village.]

Reviewer: Peter D. Sieruta

(4) 4-6 Series of Unfortunate Events series. Illustrated by Brett Helquist. The orphans, still trying to evade Count Olaf, are adopted by a town that believes in the motto "It takes a village...." But before long, the villagers are ready to burn Violet, Klaus, and Sunny at the stake. They escape to the Heimlich Hospital, where Olaf and his cohorts nearly perform a grotesque operation on Violet. Though formulaic, the darkly humorous volumes show continuing character development. [Review covers these Series of Unfortunate Events titles: The Hostile Hospital and The Vile Village.]

Reviewer: Peter D. Sieruta

(4) 4-6 Series of Unfortunate Events series. Illustrated by Brett Helquist. The Baudelaire orphans (fourteen-year-old Violet, twelve-year-old Klaus, and baby Sunny) continue to endure their lamentable lives--first staying with phobic Aunt Josephine, then forced to work in a lumbermill--all the while evading the tattooed fortune hunter, Count Olaf. The pretentious literary voice which makes these parodies so clever also becomes repetitive over the long haul.

Reviewer: Peter D. Sieruta

(4) 4-6 Series of Unfortunate Events series. Illustrated by Brett Helquist. The Baudelaire orphans (fourteen-year-old Violet, twelve-year-old Klaus, and baby Sunny) continue to endure their lamentable lives--first staying with phobic Aunt Josephine, then forced to work in a lumbermill--all the while evading the tattooed fortune hunter, Count Olaf. The pretentious literary voice which makes these parodies so clever also becomes repetitive over the long haul.

Reviewer: Peter D. Sieruta

(4) 4-6 Series of Unfortunate Events series. Illustrated by Brett Helquist. The three Baudelaire orphans and their new friends, the two (sic) Quagmire triplets, endure the indignities of the Prufrock Preparatory School, while contending with fiddle-playing Vice Principal Nero and their old nemesis Count Olaf. This episode features entertaining villains and intriguing hints about the orphans' past--but the distinctively peevish voice of the narrator grows increasingly one-noted.

Reviewer: Peter D. Sieruta

(3) 4-6 Series of Unfortunate Events series. Illustrated by Brett Helquist. Three orphans are sent to live with evil Count Olaf, who desperately plots to secure their inheritance. In the second volume, the children find happiness with a kindly herpetologist uncle until Olaf appears to cause more trouble. Related by a (per)snickety narrator, the books' unbelievable plot turns and one-dimensional characters parody bygone dime novels, but stylistic flourishes keep the stories entertaining.

Reviewer: Peter D. Sieruta

(3) 4-6 Series of Unfortunate Events series. Illustrated by Brett Helquist. Three orphans are sent to live with evil Count Olaf, who desperately plots to secure their inheritance. In the second volume, the children find happiness with a kindly herpetologist uncle until Olaf appears to cause more trouble. Related by a (per)snickety narrator, the books' unbelievable plot turns and one-dimensional characters parody bygone dime novels, but stylistic flourishes keep the stories entertaining.

Reviewer: Peter D. Sieruta