The Slippery Slope (A Series of Unfortunate Events, Book 10) (A Series of Unfortunate Events, 10) - Hardcover

Snicket, Lemony

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0064410137 ISBN 13: 9780064410137

Publisher: HarperCollins, 2003

Synopsis

NOW A NETFLIX ORIGINAL SERIES

Like bad smells, uninvited weekend guests or very old eggs, there are some things that ought to be avoided.

Snicket's saga about the charming, intelligent, and grossly unlucky Baudelaire orphans continues to alarm its distressed and suspicious fans the world over. The tenth book in this outrageous publishing effort features more than the usual dose of distressing details, such as snow gnats, an organised troupe of youngsters, an evil villain with a dastardly plan, a secret headquarters and some dangerous antics you should not try at home. With the weather turning colder, this is one chilling book you would be better off without.

About this title

About the Authors

Lemony Snicket had an unusual education, which may or may not explain his ability to evade capture. He is the author of the thirteen volumes in A Series of Unfortunate Events, several picture books, including The Dark, and the books collectively titled All the Wrong Questions.

Brett Helquist's celebrated art has graced books from the charming Bedtime for Bear, which he also wrote, to the New York Times–bestselling A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket to the glorious picture book adaptation of Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol. He lives with his family in Brooklyn, New York.

Michael Kupperman has done many illustrations for such publications as Fortune, The New Yorker, and The New York Times. He frequently writes scripts for DC Comics. This is his first book.

From the Back Cover

Like bad smells, uninvited weekend guests or very old eggs, there are some things that ought to be avoided.

Snicket's saga about the charming, intelligent, and grossly unlucky Baudelaire orphans continues to alarm its distressed and suspicious fans the world over. The 10th book in this outrageous publishing effort features more than the usual dose of distressing details, such as snow gnats, an organised troupe of youngsters, an evil villain with a dastardly plan, a secret headquarters and some dangerous antics you should not try at home. With the weather turning colder, this is one chilling book you would be better off without.

Ages 10+

Reviews

Gr. 3-5. It's clear throughout that Snicket hasn't lost his sense of the absurd or his momentum in this "Book the Tenth." As in previous episodes, the adventures of the Baudelaire sibs spin out with the zest and cliff-hanger dramatics of old-fashioned serials. Left hurtling down a mountain at the close of The Carnivorous Carnival (2002), Klaus and Violet concentrate here on saving themselves; rescuing baby Sunny, who is once more in the clutches of the evil Count Olaf; and continuing their campaign to put a stop to Olaf's evil doings once and for all. Of course, they have their work cut out for them, but with a surprising ally, they stumble through the usual assortment of clues and secret messages that actually seem to get them one step closer to their ultimate goal. Characters are true to form, ridiculous and fun, and, once again, the wry telling is pitch-perfect, with plenty of the joyful wordplay and the quirky imaginative touches Snicket's legions of fans expect. Stephanie Zvirin
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Excerpt

Chapter One

A man of my acquaintance once wrote a poemcalled "The Road Less Traveled," describing ajourney he took through the woods along a pathmost travelers never used.The poet found thatthe road less traveled was peaceful but quitelonely,and he was probably a bit nervous as hewent along, because if anything happened onthe road less traveled, the other travelers wouldbe on the road more frequently traveled and socouldn't hear him as he cried for help. Sureenough, that poet is now dead.

Like a dead poet, this book can be said tobe on the road less traveled, because it beginswith the three Baudelaire children on a path leading through the Mortmain Mountains, whichis not a popular destination for travelers, and itends in the churning waters of the StrickenStream, which few travelers even go near. Butthis book is also on the road less traveled, because unlike books most people prefer, whichprovide comforting and entertaining tales aboutcharming people and talking animals, the taleyou are reading now is nothing but distressingand unnerving, and the people unfortunateenough to be in the story are far more desperate and frantic than charming, and I would prefer to not speak about the animals at all. For thatreason, I can no more suggest the reading of thiswoeful book than I can recommend wanderingaround the woods by yourself, because like theroad less traveled, this book is likely to makeyou feel lonely, miserable, and in need of help.

The Baudelaire orphans, however, had nochoice but to be on the road less traveled. Violet and Klaus, the two elder Baudelaires, werein a caravan, traveling very quickly along the high mountain path. Neither Violet, who wasfourteen, nor Klaus, who had recently turnedthirteen, had ever thought they would findthemselves on this road, except perhaps withtheir parents on a family vacation. But theBaudelaire parents were nowhere to be foundafter a terrible fire destroyed their home - although the children had reason to believe thatone parent may not have died in the blaze afterall - and the caravan was not heading up theMortmain Mountains, toward a secret headquarters the siblings had heard about and were hoping to find. The caravan was heading down the Mortmain Mountains, very quickly, with no wayto control or stop its journey, so Violet and Klausfelt more like fish in a stormy sea than travelerson a vacation.

But Sunny Baudelaire was in a situation thatcould be said to be even more desperate. Sunnywas the youngest Baudelaire, still learning tospeak in a way that everyone could understand, so she scarcely had words for how frightened she was. Sunny was traveling uphill, toward theheadquarters in the Mortmain Mountains, in anautomobile that was working perfectly, but thedriver of the automobile was a man who wasreason enough for being terrified. Some peoplecalled this man wicked. Some called him facinorous, which is a fancy word for "wicked." Buteveryone called him Count Olaf, unless he waswearing one of his ridiculous disguises andmaking people call him a false name. CountOlaf was an actor, but he had largely abandonedhis theatrical career to try to steal the enormousfortune the Baudelaire parents had left behind. Olaf's schemes to get the fortune had beenmean-spirited and particularly complicated, butnevertheless he had managed to attract a girlfriend, a villainous and stylish woman namedEsmé Squalor, who was sitting next to CountOlaf in the car, cackling nastily and clutchingSunny on her lap. Also in the car were severalemployees of Olaf's, including a man withhooks instead of hands, two women who liked to wear white powder all over their faces, andthree new comrades Olaf had recently recruitedat Caligari Carnival. The Baudelaire childrenhad been at the carnival, too, wearing disguisesof their own, and had pretended to join CountOlaf in his treachery, but the villain had seenthrough their ruse, a phrase which here means "realized who they really were, and cut theknot attaching the caravan to the car, leavingSunny in Olaf's clutches and her siblings tumbling toward their doom." Sunny sat in the carand felt Esmé's long fingernails scratch hershoulders, and worried about what would happen to her and what was happening to her oldersiblings, as she heard their screams gettingfainter and fainter as the car drove farther andfarther away.

"We have to stop this caravan!" Klausscreamed. Hurriedly, he put on his glasses, as ifby improving his vision he might improve thesituation. But even in perfect focus, he couldsee their predicament was dire. The caravan had served as a home for several performers at thecarnival's House of Freaks before they defected - a word which here means "joined Count Olaf's band of revolting comrades " - and now the contents of this tiny home were rattling and crashing with each bump in the road. Klausducked to avoid a roasting pan, which Hugo thehunchback had used to prepare meals andwhich had toppled off a shelf in the commotion. He lifted his feet from the floor as a set of dominoes skittered by - a set that Colette the contortionist had liked to play with. And he squinted above him as a hammock swung violently overhead. An ambidextrous personnamed Kevin used to sleep in that hammockuntil he had joined Olaf's troupe, along withHugo and Colette, and now it seemed like itmight fall at any moment and trap the Baudelaires beneath it.

The only comforting thing that Klaus couldsee was his sister, who was looking around thecaravan with a fierce and thoughtful expression and unbuttoning the shirt the two siblingswere sharing as part of their disguise ...

(Continues...)

Excerpted from A Series of Unfortunate Events #10by Snicket, Lemony Excerpted by permission.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.Copyright © 2003 Joseph Bruchac
All right reserved.

Edition details

• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Publication date: 2003
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0064410137
• ISBN 13: 9780064410137
• Binding: Hardcover
• Illustrator: Helquist Brett, Kupperman Michael
• Number of pages: 352