The Austere Academy

The Austere Academy

By Lemony Snicket, New York: HarperCollins, 2000, 221pp., $4.99, ISBN 0-439-36552-x

Reviewed by Corbin Stern

Imagine going to a school with the motto “Remember you will die” or you and your two siblings be forced to live in a shack infested with small crabs, hay for bedding, and dripping fungi. It is this and more that happens to the three Baudelaire’s in The Austere Academy - 5^th book in the series “A Series of Unfortunate Events”- by Lemony Snicket. Violet; 15, Klaus; 12, and Sunny an infant, all encounter rudeness and unfair circumstances. So much that they are forced to live in a shack because they are orphans (after a fire killed their parents). Every one is very rude, all but two twins named Duncan and Isadora Quagmire both share many of the same interest as the Baudelaire’s. Count Olaf who is the person who started all of this. He always manages to disguise himself and find then terrorize the Baudelaire’s. Somehow able to keep his “red flag”; a tattoo of an eye on his ankle, hidden, but it is always discovered.

I encourage you to read this series. It is a series I am positive you will love- if you like mystery’s. This book is my favorite of the thirteen book series, and I think it will be yours too.