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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 mottoMemento 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 withThe Bad Beginningand only got worse.
InThe 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.
Snicket disarms us again with his playful juxtapositions--only he can compare bombs with strawberry shortcake (both are as dangerous to make as assumptions), muse on how babies adjust developmentally to the idea of curtains, or ponder why the Baudelaire orphans would not want to be stalks of celery despite their incessant bad luck as humans. We can't get enough of this splendid series of misadventures, and can only wager that swarms of young readers will be right next to us in line for the next installment. (Ages 9 and older)--Karin Snelson
Excellent writer for kids and adults The author writes in a formulaic style similar to that of Arthur Conan Doyle. All the books follow a similar pattern, but each is interesting and unique. He plays with words in interesting ways, expanding the child reader's vocabulary without them even realizing that they are being taught. But most important in the books, is the message of perseverance through diversity, the love of family, and the importance of true friendship. In a world that portrays the mythical exsistance of an easy world, the author helps to balance that perspective by providing a different view. It also shows how important and dependent the children are on one another, each using his or his special talents to benefit the group as a whole. I recommend these whole series of books for adults and children.
A Series of Unfortunate Events, The Austere Academy This book is one of the many miserable books written by Lemeny Snickets. He especially wrote it for younger children. Whenever he uses a word that is to hard to understand, he gives a close definition of the word. Anyone who reads the beginning of the series will continue to read the rest of the series. The story begins with Violet, Klaus, and Sunny when they are left with a fowl gardian name Count Olaf. After many gardians the are now living in the shaft in the Austere Academy. They Once again meet the fowl gardian again. AT hte end they loses two good friends that you will learn if you read this book.Book review on a series of unfortunate events num.5 The Austere Academy by: Blake Hunton The Baudelaires are going to school in this fifth instalment of the Series of Unfortunate event novels. This adventure includes noisy shoes,angry crabs,kidnapping,and other unfortunate events like the evil character count Olaf. The Baudilaires are pusheded around and call names by a character named Camilia Spatts and laughed at by most of the other kids at this school. Everthing seems glum for the Baudelaires till they meet the quagmire triplets Duncan and Isadora who also lost their parents in a fire, but onlike the Baudelaires they lost their triplet Quigley who died in a fire. Later on in the book they get a new P.E. teacher who makes them do strange S.O.R.E. programs,to find out what these programs are and what happens read A Series Of Unfortunate Events,Book 5 The Austere Academy.
