The Austere Academy by Lemony Snicket

Genre: Children's Literature

Setting: At a fictitious boarding school

First Sentence:  If you were going to give a gold medal to the least delightful person on Earth, you would have to give that medal to a person maned Carmelita Spats, and if you didn't give it to her. Carmela Spats was the sort of person who would snatch it from you anyway.

This novel is the fifth book in the author's thirteen book series entitled " A Series of Unfortunate Events."

This episode relates the experiences that the three Baudelaire orphans have at the Prufrock Preparatory School.  This boarding school is the next horrible place that Mr. Poe has chosen to leave the orphans.  Mr. Poe is the banker entrusted with caring for the orphans and their fortune.  It seems that he is more concerned with the fortune than the children.

Of course, any school that Mr. Poe would select would be horrible.  Prufrock Prep has boring teachers, awful lessons, a vindictive Vice Principal, and a very suspicious gym teacher.

Fortunately, Prufrock Prep has two good things: the Quagmire Triplets.  the Baudelaires and the Quagmires soon become fast friends.  Both sets of children have something in common.  They both have lost their parents due to a fire.  And they both are the heirs to a fortune.

It doesn't take long for Count Olaf, in disguise, to make his appearance.  When the Quagmires decide to help the Baudelaires, they place themselves in danger.

This episode gives us (you and I) some tantalizing clues to the larger mystery of the series.

Who is Count Olaf really?

Why is he so interested in the Baudelaire fortune?

The clues hinted at in this novel suggest that there is something interesting and mysterious going on.


                                      

The Miserable Mill by Lemony Snicket

Genre: Children's Literature

Setting: A fictitious lumber mill

First Sentence: Sometime during your life - in fact, very soon - you may find yourself reading a book, and you may notice that a book's first sentence can often tell you what sort of story your book contains.

This novel is the fourth in the author's thirteen book series entitled "A Series of Unfortunate Events."

The Baudelaire children, Violet, Klaus and Sunny, are orphans.  Their parents perished when their house burned down.  When Violet comes of age, she and her siblings will inherit a vast fortune.  Until then, Mr. Poe manages their fortune and places them with a guardian, while the Evil Count Olaf attempts to steal the fortune from the children.

Once again, Mr. Poe has placed the Baudelaire orphans in dubious circumstances.  Dubious circumstances here means not safe and secure for three orphan children.

Mr. Poe has made a habit of placing the orphans in dubious circumstances.  For Mr. Poe dubious circumstances means convenient for Mr. Poe.

This time Mr. Poe has placed the orphans in a lumber mill.  Like all lumber mills this one is filled with dangerous machinery which no child should ever be near.

The owner of the mill has agreed to keep the Baudelaires safe from Count Olaf.  In return the orphans are to work in the mill.

Strangely, when Count Olaf dons a disguise, the adults who are supposed to protect the children can't seem to recognize him.  It is up to the children to unmask him.  Unmask here means finding the count's tattoo on his ankle.

I enjoyed this episode of the series.  There is real danger and the Baudelaires need to be creative in order to escape with their lives.


                                             

The Wide Window by Lemony Snicket

Genre: Children's Literature

Setting: Around the fictional Lake Lachrymose.

First sentence: If you didn't know much about the Baudelaire orphans, and you saw them sitting on the suitcases, you might think that they were bound for an exciting adventure.

This book is the third in the author's series entitled "A Series of Unfortunate Events."

Mr. Poe is responsible for maintaining the Baudelaire fortune.  He is also tasked with finding a suitable guardian for the orphans.  So far, in the series, he has not done very well at this.

This time Mr. Poe has selected Aunt Josephine to be the orphans' guardian.  She might not be the best choice.  She is phobic about almost everything in her environment.  But, she is very good at grammar.  Both of these facts are important to this story.

The orphans are doomed to have an unhappy visit with Aunt Josephine.

The evil Count Olaf appears.  This time in the guise of Captain Sham.

And, the orphans must prove to Mr. Poe that Captain Sham is Count Olaf.

For me, this was an enjoyable yet unhappy episode.

                                          

The Reptile Room by Lemony Snicket

Genre: Children's Literature

Setting: In and around fantastic city.

First Sentence: The stretch of road that leads out of the city, past Hazy Harbor and into the town of Tedia, is perhaps the most unpleasant in the world.

This book is the second in the author's thirteen novel series entitled "A Series of Unfortunate Events."

Once again, the Baudelaire orphans must deal with clueless adults, and the evil Count Olaf.

Dr. Montgomery is the herpetologist who studies snakes and lizards  in the Reptile Room.  He is a great guy and the orphans would love to live with him and his reptiles.

Unfortunately, the Baudelaires are doomed to live an unhappy life.  And Dr. Montgomery is also doomed to have an unfortunate life.

When Count Olaf appears as Dr. Montgomery's new assistant Stephano, the orphans must find away to prove Stephano's guilt to Mr. Poe.

A very interesting book. I enjoyed it.  Check out the very, very interesting page 154 in chapter 11.



                                          

The Bad Beginning by Lemony Snicket

Genre: Children's Literature

Setting: In a fictional city

First Sentence:  If you are interested in stories with happy endings, you would be better off reading some other book.

This novel is the first in the author's A Series of Unfortunate Events series.  This series has thirteen books.

I believe this book has one of the greatest opening sentences.  The author announces that there will be no happy ending.  And he delivers.  There is no happy ending.

In this novel, the author does a good job of introducing the protagonists:  the Baudelaire orphans.

Violet is the eldest.  She is an inventor.
Klaus is the only boy.  He is a reader.
Sunny is a baby.  She likes to bite things, and people.

The antagonist is the evil Count Olaf.  He is an actor.  And he wants to gain control of the Baudelaire fortune.

The story tells of the Orphans' terrible bad luck.  Their parents have perished, their how has been destroyed by fire, the orphan's have been placed in Count Olaf's care by the incredibly stupid Mr. Poe.

The Baudelaire orphans are the heirs of a fortune.  They cannot access the fortune until Violet comes of age.  This fortune is why Count Olaf is so interested in the children.

There is no happy ending.  However, the orphan's do know how to use their intelligence to evade the Count's evil plot.

For me, the best part of reading this book is the fantastic voice the author uses in the form of the fictional narrator Lemony Snicket.

I plan to read the series in order.

                           

Holes by Louis Sachar

Genre: Children's Literature, Young Adult Literature

Setting: A boys correctional camp near a dry lake bed.

First Sentence: There is no Camp Green Lake


I am a big fan of the movie "Holes"  For me it is an example of well written fiction.  It's a nice tight story with no loose plot lines.

I decided to read the novel to discover the author's original story.  I was surprised to see how close the novel and the film were to each other.

Reading the book was just like seeing the movie again.

There are a few minor differences, but nothing that that distracts from the original plot.

Although the target audience for the novel is children and young adults, I think adults would appreciate reading a good story, well written.

There is a sequel to Holes titled Small Steps.