Amazon.com Review

It's tough when the things that stand between you and your desired sugar bowl are a host of deadly mushrooms and an uncomfortable diving suit. The unlucky Baudelaire orphans find themselves in deep (once again) in this eleventh book in Lemony Snicket's odd-and-full-of-woe-but-quite-funny Series of Unfortunate Events. In The Grim Grotto, the siblings find themselves headed down Stricken Stream on a broken toboggan when they are spotted by the submarine Queequeg, carrying Captain Widdershins, his somewhat volatile stepdaughter Fiona, and optimistic Phil from Lucky Smells Lumbermill. The adventures that follow as the crew tries to get to the aforementioned sugar bowl before Count Olaf are so horrible that the narrator inserts factual information about the water cycle so that readers will get bored and stop reading the book. It doesn't work. As per usual, readers will want to soak up every awf! ul detail and follow the Baudelaires all the way back to the place we first met them--Briny Beach. (Ages 9 and older) --Karin Snelson

From Booklist

Gr. 4-6. With the movie poised for release and a wealth of promotional materials (including editions of the books with disappointing photos on the covers) already available, it wouldn't do to ignore the latest book in A Series of Unfortunate Events. Snicket reconnects with the Baudelaire orphans precisely where he left them, tobogganing down the Stricken Stream, and then sends them down under the waves in a submarine escapade, during which, of course, they encounter the evil Orlof and his cronies. Snicket, who hasn't lost his touch for peculiar, imaginative setups, injects plenty of wry asides and witty vocabulary enrichment. His villains remain deliciously villainous, and the long-suffering Baudelaires still accept struggle without complaint. This time, though, Snicket adds a few characters who don't quite fit the molds, and this is the first book to hint that the unfortunate events that have dogged the kids through 10 previous adventures may be coming to an end. Book the Twelfth will surely provide more clues. Stephanie Zvirin
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