A Series of Unfortunate Events: The Hostile Hospital

Bibliography: Snicket, Lemony. (2001) A Series of Unfortunate Events: The Hostile Hospital. New York, NY: Harper Collins.

Genre:YA

Reading Level/Interest Age:12-16yrs

Reader's Annotation:Violet, Klaus and Sunny Baudelaire continue their search for answers to their questions to their past and find themselves in the Heimlich Hospital, where Count Olaf tracks them down, again.

Author:Lemony Snickett

Plot Summary:This installment of the story finds Violet, Klaus, and Sunny Baudelaire on the run from the law. The only clue they have is a page from the Quagmire triplet notebook. They join a group of volunteers, Volunteers Fighting Disease, (or the mysterious initials V.F.D.) to the Heimlich Hospital. Luckily they find themselves exactly where they want to be: the Hall of Records. The Baudelaires hope to fin information bout Jacques Snicket or their parents, but—instead—Count Olaf and his girlfriend Esme Squalor catch up with them. They capture Violet, and Count Olaf's associates (in disguise) plan to murder Violet via a craniectonomy. Klaus and Sunny have to work together in a fight for Violet's life.

Critical Evaluation:As one of the later volumes in A Series of Unfortunate Events, the Hostile Hospital continues to give clues to the larger Series plot. These links (often subtle) make the series enjoyable. Not only is there the adventures and mystery of each plot installment, but the sense that the plots are intertwined with a mystery. With his typical wit, sarcasm, and occasional vocabulary lesson, Lemony Snicket provides an eight entertaining episode in this series. His dramatic plot twists keep me wanting to read more. Fans of the earlier books will read this book to keep up with the adventure of the Baudelaires.

Curriculum Ties:Student Choice book report

Book Talk Ideas:read an early chapter, give an overview/summary of A Series of Unfortunate Events up to this point

Challenge Issues:violence, arson, sarcasm

Why was this text included in this project?This novel was included because of the popularity of the series. High school students who have read the earlier installments of A Series of Unfortunate Events are likely to continue reading these books as they are published.