title: The Reptile Room (A Series of Unfortunate Events, Book 2)
author:  Lemony Snicket 
description: Grade 4-6-This series chronicles the unfortunate lives of the Baudelaire children: Violet, 14; Klaus, 12; and the infant, Sunny. In Bad Beginning, their parents and possessions perish in a fire, and the orphans must use their talents to survive as their lives move from one disastrous event to another. Surrounded by dim-witted though well-meaning adults, the Baudelaires find themselves in the care of their evil relative, Count Olaf, a disreputable actor whose main concern is getting his hands on the children's fortune. When Olaf holds Sunny hostage to force Violet to marry him, it takes all of the siblings' resourcefulness to outwit him. Violet's inventive genius, Klaus's forte for research, and Sunny's gift for biting the bad guys at opportune moments save the day. However, the evil Count escapes, only to return in The Reptile Room just as the children are settling into a far more pleasant life with their new guardian, Uncle Monty, who is promptly murdered by Olaf and his cohorts. Though the villain escapes again, and beloved Uncle Monty is dead, the children are safe...for now. While the misfortunes hover on the edge of being ridiculous, Snicket's energetic blend of humor, dramatic irony, and literary flair makes it all perfectly believable. The writing, peppered with fairly sophisticated vocabulary and phrases, may seem daunting, but the inclusion of Snicket's perceptive definitions of difficult words makes these books challenging to older readers and excellent for reading aloud.<br /><i>Linda Bindner, formerly at Athens Clarke County Library, GA </i><br />Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.
zlib_text: A Series of Unfortunate Events
  BOOK the Second
  THE REPTILE ROOM
  by LEMONY SNICKET
  Illustrations by Brett Helquist
  
  Dear Reader,
  With all due respect,
  Lemony Snicket
  If you have picked up this book with the hope of finding a simple 
  and cheery tale, I’m afraid you have picked up the wrong book 
  altogether. The story may seem cheery at first, when the 
  Baudelaire children spend time in the company of some interesting 
  reptiles and a giddy uncle, but don’t be fooled. If you know 
  anything at all about the unlucky Baudelaire children, you already 
  know that even pleasant events lead down the same road to misery. 
   
     In fact, within the pages you now hold in your hands, the three 
  siblings endure a car accident, a terrible odor, a deadly serpent, a 
  long knife, a large brass reading lamp, and the reappearance of a 
  person they’d hoped never to see again. 
   
     I am bound to record these tragic events, but you are free to put 
  this book back on the shelf and seek something lighter. 
   
  
  For