Dear Reader,
If you have not read anything concerning the Baudelaire orphans, then before you read even one extra sentence, you should recognize this: Violet, Klaus, and Sunny are kindhearted and fast-witted, but their lives, I am sorry to say, are filled together with bad luck and misery. All of the stories concerning these three kids are unhappy and wretched, and the one you are holding may be the worst of them all.
If you haven't got the stomach for a story this consists of a hurricane, a signaling device, hungry leeches, cold cucumber soup, a horrible villain, and a doll named Pretty Penny, then this book will probably fill up you together with despair.
I will continue to record these tragic tales, for this is what I do. You, however, should decide for yourself whether you can possibly endure this miserable story.
Together with all due respect, Lemoney Snicket
This story begins when the orphans are being escorted by the well-meaning Mr. Poe to yet another distant relative who has agreed to get 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 for the reason that she is afraid of the radiator exploding, she eats cold cucumber soup for the reason that 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 much fearful--when Count up Olaf creeps his way back to locate the Baudelaire orphans and steal their fortune--she somehow lets her guard down. One time again, it is up to Violet, Klaus, and Sunny to get themselves out of danger. Will they do well? We haven't the stomach to inform you. (Ages 9 to 12) --Karin Snelson