#5: A SERIES OF UNFORTUNATE EVENTS
The author:
Lemony Snicket
The first:
Book #1, The Bad Beginning, was published in 1999.
The last:
Book #13, The End, came out on Friday the 13th of October, 2006.
The basics:
The Baudelaire orphans can't get a break. Their house burns down, their parents die, they're shuffled through the care of a number of wildly inappropriate family members, they're stalked by an evil count who wants only their fortune, and their tale is told by a narrator who pulls no punches about their dire fate.
The magic:
There's nothing supernatural about these tales, unless you consider young Violet, Klaus and Sunny to be under some kind of a curse (they could hardly be worse off if they were), but the books have a Potter sort of kid-craze popularity that will make your child feel like one-of-the-gang just for carrying them around; each slender volume is way lighter than the latest Rowling opus; and Snicket at least explains what those big words mean when he uses them.
- #1: The Magic Tree House Series
- #2: The Time Warp Trio Series
- #3: The Bailey School Kids Series
- #4: The Artemis Fowl Series
- #5: You are here!
