Gr 4-7-Another roller coaster of perils for the three Baudelaire children. This time, they search for clues concerning their parents' deaths and attempt to clear themselves of a false murder charge while being pursued by the evil Count Olaf, who is after the family fortune. While attempting to escape arrest, the siblings join a volunteer group that sings and brings good cheer to patients and enter Heimlich Hospital, where they soon find themselves working in the Library of Records. A picture with an important clue surfaces just as Olaf's girlfriend discovers them and captures Violet, who is then readied for a cranioectomy, a surgery in which the head must be removed. The trio's talents are put to good use in a daring escape from the burning hospital. They jump into Olaf's car trunk in search of more clues and position themselves for the next exciting sequel. Readers will enjoy cheering for the clever youngsters, booing the diabolical villains, and noting the many new clues. The narrator's active voice is forever teasing readers by taking them to the edge of their seats and then purposely switching the subject or suggesting they stop reading all together. This volume can stand alone but few will be able to resist reading the next installment after the cliff-hanger ending.-Jean Gaffney, Dayton and Montgomery County Public Library, Miamisburg, OH (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Gr. 4-6. The Baudelaire orphans squeak through another darkly amusing, nightmarish adventure in the eighth of the projected 13 volumes of A Series of Unfortunate Events. In this episode, the children try to learn more about their situation, their parents, and the mysterious Jacques Snicket while being pursued by Count Olaf and his nefarious cohorts, who topple file cabinets to flatten the kids, threaten to cut off anesthetized Violet's head, and trap the children in a burning building. Though the children escape, they are last seen in the trunk of Count Olaf's car, hurtling toward whatever destiny awaits in volume nine. Narrator Snicket is in fine form here, telling the siblings' story while dropping hints about his own dark past and offering entertaining asides, miscellaneous information, and at least one admirable pun. Perfectly capturing the atmosphere of the stories, Helquist's stylized pencil sketches are among his best yet. --Carolyn Phelan

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. From HORN BOOK Spring 2002, (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.