The Vile Village (A Series of Unfortunate Events, Book 7) (A Series of Unfortunate Events, 7)

From School Library Journal Grade 4-6-The resourceful, likable, but extremely unlucky orphans Violet, Klaus, and baby Sunny continue to flee from the clutches of the fortune-hunting, disguise-wearing Count Olaf. Also, they need to discover the whereabouts of their kidnapped friends, Duncan and Isadora Quagmire, based on the puzzling clue "V.F.D." In Elevator, the three Baudelaires go to live in the penthouse of the trend-following Jerome and Esm? Squalor, who adopt the children because orphans are "in." Despite the Baudelaires' resourcefulness, both Olaf and the Quagmires elude the grasp of the authorities due to the obtuseness of adults who, until it is too late, deny that terrible things can happen. In Village, the Baudelaires travel to V.F.D., a village that adopts the orphans based on the aphorism, "it takes a village to raise a child." They uncover the whereabouts of the Quagmires, but, as in the earlier books, they find neither respite nor peace from Count Olaf's machinations. Despite Snicket's artful turning of clich?s on their well-worn heads, Elevator sometimes belabors the fallacy of fads at the expense of plot. Nonetheless, the satiric treatment of adults' insistence upon decorum at the expense of truth is simultaneously satisfying and unsettling, as are the deft slams at slant journalism in Village. Arch literary allusions enhance the stories for readers on different levels. Despite Snicket's perpetual caveats to "put this book down and pick up another one," the Baudelaires are dynamic characters who inspire loyalty to the inevitable end of the series. Farida S. Dowler, formerly at Bellevue Regional Library, WA Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc. As the Baudelaire children hike across the flat dusty terrain leading to the village where they will soon live, they can't help but wonder what lies ahead. Could this be the place where they might finally be happy? Violet, who is an inventor, might be happy if she gets a chance to do some inventing. Of course, it would be less enjoyable if her invention was desperately needed to escape danger. Her brother, Klaus, loves to read, and might be happy if the town has some books. Though he would not like them as much if he had to stay up all night reading in search of an urgent piece of information. Their baby sister, Sunny, likes to bite things and might be happy if she finds something to sink her teethinto. However, it would be less fun if her teeth got her into big trouble. Whether their stay in the village will bring the children happiness is a mystery. But as the Baudelaires trudge on toward the hazy town in the distance, they can only hope that what awaits them there isn't the most miserable in a series of unfortunate events. Lemony Snicket had an unusual education which may or may not explain his ability to evade capture. He is the author of the 13 volumes in A Series of Unfortunate Events, several picture books including The Dark , and the books collectively titled All The Wrong Questions. Brett Helquist's celebrated art has graced books from the charming Bedtime for Bear , which he also wrote, to the New York Times –bestselling A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket to the glorious picture book adaptation of Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol . He lives with his family in Brooklyn, New York. Michael Kupperman has done many illustrations for such publications as Fortune, The New Yorker, and The New York Times. He frequently writes scripts for DC Comics. This is his first book. Read more