The Ersatz Elevator (A Series of Unfortunate Events, Book 6)
Fans of Lemony Snicket's wonderful Series of Unfortunate Events won't be  surprised to find that in the sixth installment the three Baudelaire orphans'  new home proves to be something of a mixed bag. As our ever sad but helpful  narrator states, "Although 'a mixed bag' sometimes refers to a plastic bag that  has been stirred in a bowl, more often it is used to describe a situation that  has both good parts and bad parts. An afternoon at the movie theater, for  instance, would be a mixed bag if your favorite movie were showing, but if you  had to eat gravel instead of popcorn. A trip to the zoo would be a very mixed  bag if the weather were beautiful, but all of the man-and woman-eating lions  were running around loose." And so it is for the bad-luck Baudelaires. Their  fancy new 71-bedroom home on 667 Dark Avenue is inhabited by Esmé Gigi  Geniveve Squalor (the city's sixth most important financial advisor), and her  kindly husband, Jerome, who doesn't like to argue. Esmé is obsessed by  the trends du jour (orphans are "in"), and because elevators are "out," Sunny,  Violet, and Klaus have to trudge up 66 flights of stairs to reach the Squalors'  penthouse apartment. (Other unfortunate trends include pinstripe suits, aqueous  martinis--water with a faint olive-y taste--parsley soda, and ocean  decorations.)As the book begins, the Baudelaires are not only frightened in anticipation of  their next (inevitable) encounter with the evil, moneygrubbing Count Olaf but  they are also mourning the disappearance of their dear new friends fromThe Austere Academy, the  Quagmires. It doesn't take long for Olaf to show up in another of his horrific  disguises... but if he is on Dark Avenue, what has he done with the Quagmires?  Once again, the resourceful orphans use their unique talents (Violet's  inventions, Klaus's research skills, and the infant Sunny's strong teeth) in a  fruitless attempt to escape from terrible tragedy. Is there a gleam of hope for  the orphans and their new friends? Most certainly not. The only thing we can  really count on are more gloriously gloomy adventures in the seventh book,The Vile Village. (Ages 9 and  older)--Karin Snelson