"Shouldn't You Be in School?"

Gr 4–6—In this installment of series that precedes "A Series of Unfortunate Events" (HarperCollins), 13-year-old Lemony Snicket must work together with his incompetent chaperone to figure out who is burning down all of the buildings in the quaint town of Stain'd-by-the-Sea. Snicket is part of a special program, the V.F.D., and spends his days sleuthing with his chaperone, Theodora, in an attempt to catch the elusive and mysterious Hangfire, who is supposedly to blame for all of the mysterious happenings in Stain'd-by-the-Sea. Together, he and his friends must uncover the town's secrets and thwart Hanfire's attempt to burn down the library. But everything gets even more complicated when Hangfire manages to frame the librarian for arson, and Snicket is left questioning the trustworthiness of his friends. This series carries the same sarcastic charm of the "Unfortunate Events" books and will have young readers chuckling out loud. The characters are all fun and quirky in their own right, and the mystery is well developed and enticing. The illustrations add an extra dimension to the story, and the author does a fantastic job of incorporating mini vocabulary lessons into each chapter. Fans of Snicket's previous outings will devour the latest entry.—Candyce Pruitt-Goddard, Hartford Public Library, CT