From Powells.com
If, for some too ghastly to mention reason you haven't yet met,
allow me the pleasure of introducing Mr. Lemony Snicket, whose sad task
it is to document the trials and travails of the tragically fated Baudelaire
siblings. Mr. Snicket pens the wickedly funny Series of Unfortunate Events,
in which he chronicles the woeful and witty adventures of Klaus, Violet,
and Sunny, orphaned in The Bad Beginning, Book the First and left
to depend on each other and their smarts as they are relentlessly pursued
by their frequently disguised nemesis, Count Olaf. In book five of the
series, The Austere Academy, Violet, Klaus, and Sunny Baudelaire
enroll in the Prufrock Academy, where they are cruelly mimicked by the
horrid Vice Principal Nero, housed in the Orphans' Shack with toe-biting
crabs and fungus on the walls, and once again come face to face with Count
Olaf, in disguise as usual (this time he has hidden his trademark monobrow
under a turban). Lemony Snicket's deliciously morose and painfully funny
books are successful for all the right reasons, and The Austere Academy
is no exception. Like Sesame Street or The Simpsons, the
humor is never patronizing but appeals indiscriminately to old and young
alike. After all, few adults or children could resist the opening line
to The Austere Academy: "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 named Carmelita Spats, and if you didn't give it
to her, Carmelita Spats was the sort of person who would rip it from your
hands anyway." Georgie, Powells.com
Synopses & Reviews
Dear Reader,
If you are looking for a story about cheerful youngsters spending a jolly time at boarding school, look elsewhere. Violet, Klaus, and Sunny Baudelaire arc intelligent and resourceful children, and you might expect that they would do very well at school. Don't. For the Baudelaires, school turns out to be another miserable episode in their unlucky lives.
Truth be told, within the chapters that make up this dreadful story, the children will face snapping crabs, strict punishments, dripping fungus, comprehensive exams, violin recitals, S.O.R.E., and the metric system.
It is my solemn duty to stay up all night researching and writing the history of these three hapless youngsters, but you may be more comfortable getting a good night's sleep. In that case, you should probably choose some other book.
With all due respect,
Lemony Snicket
Review
"Series followers will be keeping their eye out for evil Count Olaf in one of his disguises, and the author doesn't disappoint....Kids not familiar with the previous books will also enjoy this." Booklist
Synopsis
NOW A NETFLIX ORIGINAL SERIES
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 just as we have come to expect from Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events, the deliciously morbid set of books that began with The Bad Beginning and only got worse.
Synopsis
Dear Reader,
If you are looking for a story about cheerful youngsters spending a jolly time at boarding school, look elsewhere. Violet, Klaus, and Sunny Baudelaire arc intelligent and resourceful children, and you might expect that they would do very well at school. Don't. For the Baudelaires, school turns out to be another miserable episode in their unlucky lives.
Truth be told, within the chapters that make up this dreadful story, the children will face snapping crabs, strict punishments, dripping fungus, comprehensive exams, violin recitals, S.O.R.E., and the metric system.
It is my solemn duty to stay up all night researching and writing the history of these three hapless youngsters, but you may be more comfortable getting a good night's sleep. In that case, you should probably choose some other book.
With all due respect,
Lemony Snicket
Synopsis
As their outrageous misfortune continues, the Baudelaire orphans are shipped off to a miserable boarding school, where they befriend the two Quagmire triplets and find that they have been followed by the dreaded Count Olaf.
Synopsis
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 just as we have come to expect from Lemony Snickett′s Series of Unfortunate Events, the deliciously morbid set of books that began with The Bad Beginning and only got worse.
Ages 10+
Synopsis
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 just as we have come to expect from Lemony Snickett's Series of Unfortunate Events, the deliciously morbid set of books that began with The Bad Beginning and only got worse.
Ages 10+
About the Author
Lemony Snicket was born before you were, and is likely to die before you as well. His family has roots in a part of the country which is now underwater, and his childhood was spent in the relative splendor of the Snicket Villa which has since become a factory, a fortress and a pharmacy and is now, alas, someone else's villa.
To the untrained eye, Mr. Snicket's hometown would not appear to be filled with secrets. Untrained eyes have been wrong before. The aftermath of the scandal was swift, brutal and inaccurately reported in the periodicals of the day. It is true, however, that Mr. Snicket was stripped of several awards by the reigning authorities, including Honorable Mention, the Grey Ribbon and First Runner Up. The High Council reached a convenient if questionable verdict and Mr. Snicket found himself in exile.
Though his formal training was chiefly in rhetorical analysis, he has spent the last several eras researching the travails of the Baudelaire orphans. This project, being published serially by HarperCollins, takes him to the scenes of numerous crimes, often during the off-season. Eternally pursued and insatiably inquisitive, a hermit and a nomad, Mr. Snicket wishes you nothing but the best.