“There was a town, and there was a librarian, and there was a fire.”

From Lemony Snicket’s All the Wrong Questions: Shouldn’t You Be in School?

While staying in the quiet, dying town of Stain’d-by-the-Sea, young detective Lemony Snicket has been caught up in a mystery that started with a statue of the Bombinating Beast that Snicket watched be recovered and re-stollen several times.  Snicket knows that the evil Hangfire and the other members of the Inhumane Society are not finished with their terrible plans, but the young apprentice is still unable to determine what Hangfire’s plans actually are.  During their time in Stain’d-by-the-Sea, Snicket has made friends with young journalist Moxie, teenage chemist Cleo, amazing cook Jake, and the taxi-driving brothers, Pip and Squeak.  Despite his best efforts, Snicket’s attention has been captured by the mysterious girl Ellington Feint and trying to help Ellington free her father from Hangfire.  While Snicket is hard at work investigating the many mysteries that surround him, his clueless chaperone (S. Theodora Markson) is constantly waylaid by fake clues and distractions.  When he and Theodora are hired by the Department of Eduction to investigate a case of arson, they meet the young Kellar and his mother Sharon, who hired them.  Sharon gives them a clue which leads to more arson and the arrest of the public librarian, Dashiell Qwerty.  Snicket’s friendship with Qwerty makes him positive that the librarian is being framed for some unknown reason.  Betrayal, truancy, and danger abound, but young Snicket refuses to rest until he has rescued his friends, cleared Qwerty’s name, and brought Hangfire to justice.

The third book in Snicket’s mystery series is full of the same twists, humor, and sarcasm that made Series of Unfortunate Events such a success.  The protagonist is smart and relatable, making him the perfect narrator.  Even though Shouldn’t You Be in School? is fairly simple, it’s complex enough to keep readers of all ages engaged from start to finish.