Review by Booklist Review
Fans of the All the Wrong Questions series will have to wait for answers to its bigger questions while Lemony Snicket meets Encyclopedia Brown. Oh, not literally. Young Lemony is still in Stain'd-by-the-Sea (why is the town falling apart?) and still in the company of mentor S. Theodora Markson (who exactly is she?), but he's taking a pause to solve 13 mysteries, Brown-style: short conundrums with the answers at the book's conclusion. The main difference between Snicket and Brown is that the former has a much bigger vocabulary and far better allusions (eating maple syrup is like drinking the blood of a tree), while the latter chooses mysteries that are easier for readers to solve. That said, Snicketeers will relish the chance to revisit Lemony and several familiar characters (in every sense of that word!). Once again, Seth's black-and-white illustrations are charming (and occasionally worrisome). But after this delightful detour, Snicket, please return to the problems at hand, as Stain'd-by-the-Sea is losing residents faster than rats departing a sinking ship. (The kind of rats Billy Becker tries to catch in his old pillow case see the chapter Troublesome Ghost. )--Cooper, Ilene Copyright 2010 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
This title contains 13 short stories from Lemony Snicket's youthful time in Stain'd-by-the-Sea, a declining seaside town. While residing there with his indifferent mentor, Snicket solved mysteries such as a dog abduction, a case of stolen spoons, the cause of ghostly apparitions, and who was behind incidents of vandalism and theft. Written with his usual clever wordplay and accurate but lighthearted vocabulary definitions, the stories have just enough clues for the listeners figure out the culprits. The readers' voices may sound familiar to parents and children who ride in NPR-listening cars: Sarah Vowell, Ira Glass, Terry Gross, and Rachel Maddow all maintain their distinctive tones while giving characters unique identities. And somehow, the Snicket character sounds uniform across all thirteen stories. The varied voices keep listeners' interest, and every one of them is "in" on Snicket's sly wit and dark humor. What other children's book would contain an sledding joke about Ethan Frome? The end of each story is told at the end of the audiobook. This makes for awkward listening. Listeners have to choose either to remember all the cliffhangers and listen to the resolutions all at once, or to skip ahead in the tracks and find the appropriate ending. Flipping back and forth in a print book would be much simpler. But in a print version, there would not be the joy of hearing the molasses-slow baritone of Stephin Merritt read words by Lemony Snicket-a job for which Mr. Merritt is eminently suited. Ages 8-up. A Little, Brown hardcover. (Apr.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review
Gr 3-7-In these 13 mini-mysteries, set in Stain'd-By-The-Sea, an array of eccentric characters present Snicket with baffling problems that he solves using deductive reasoning and almost nonstop wordplay. Each story is read by a different author or well-known personality, including Libba Bray, Holly Black, and Ira Glass, and this, combined with ominous music and sound effects, creates a varied and enjoyable listening experience. Each incident is presented as one of the young detective's case files and ends abruptly without resolution. The narrator then directs listeners to a different case file in order to find the answer. While this clever set-up might work well in print, it is cumbersome in the audio version. For example, each of the six stories on disc 1 requires the listener to eject the CD and insert disc 3 in order to hear the ending to the mystery. Nonetheless, this audiobook will be thoroughly enjoyed by fans of the series and of Snicket's other books.-Tara Hixon, Cashion Public Schools, OK (c) Copyright 2014. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
The fictional kid detective known as Lemony Snicket, introduced in "Who Could That Be at This Hour?" (rev. 1/13), is still living in Stain'd-by-the-Sea. In this collection he treats us to thirteen short mysteries (missing newt, ghostly appearance, series of break-ins) in which he leaves readers poised just before the reveal, with a chance to solve the mystery themselves before they flip to the back of the book to be impressed by the workings of Snicket's little gray cells. This is Encyclopedia Brown for Snicket-Hipsters, and Snicket (the writer) pays respectful homage to his tradition by naming the veterinarians in town the Doctors Sobol. The actual puzzles are dandy, and the format is ideal for the author's approach of comic avalanche. (Sometimes ten pages is all one can take at a sitting.) Bonuses include searching for weird details in Seth's illustrations and trying to identify the many sly references to books and movies: "Only a dozen sledders competed in this year's race down Homily Hill for the Ethan Frome Festival. Organizers said attendance at the auction was also a disappointment, despite such distinguished items as an oil painting of Gary Dorian, Stain'd-by-the-Sea's famed cosmetician." A surprisingly lyrical final chapter is steeped in noirish melancholy. sarah ellis (c) Copyright 2014. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
