The Grim Grotto - A Series of Unfortunate Events - Book 11 By Lemony Snicket

Hi, welcome back to the ongoing reviews of the books in the Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket.  I'm a little saddened after reading this book.  Not because the events are so unfortunate that they bring me to tears, but because there are only 2 books left in this great series.  The writing just gets better and better with each book as well as the thickness (number of pages) of each book.  I will say this, the Grim Grotto is by far the funniest and most creatively written book in the series.  It is my favorite book of the series.

In this episode the reader is exposed to some great classics in literature.  Such as Herman Melville, T.S. Eliot and Lewis Carroll.

First of all the orphans escape from Count Olaf as they make their way through the frozen Stricken Stream on a toboggan.  The return of False Spring causes the Stricken Stream to thaw and they are carried through the rushing waters of the stricken stream and separated from Quigley Quagmire.  They are soon picked up by a submarine named the Queequeg, of course, named after the character in the Herman Melville novel "Moby Dick."  In fact the uniforms on the Queequeg feature the face of Herman Melville.  We are then introduced to the most fun character in all these novels, Captain Widdershins.  Captain Widdershins reminds me of Robin Williams with the constant speech and quick-changing subjects of his speeches.  We are also introduced to Captain Widdershins step-daughter, Fiona.  You will be surprised who Fiona's brother is.  I'll give you a clue...he works for Count Olaf. 

The orphans are then recruited to find the elusive sugar bowl that can help save V.F.D.  Along the way they meet up again with Count Olaf, only this time Count Olaf also has a submarine and captures the Queequeg after the disappearance of Captain Widdershins.  The orphans receive a Volunteer Factual Dispatch (a telegram) from Quigley.  This telegram requires the reading of T.S. Eliot and Lewis Carroll to decipher the code.

All in all this is the best book in the series.  Read it for yourself, read it to your kids, have your kids read it to you.  Just enjoy the fun in this adventure.

Only 2 books left, with the exception of the "Unauthorized Autobiography of Lemony Snicket."  I'm not looking forward to finishing the series but I HAVE to read more.  By the way, each of these books can be read independently but it's more fun to read the series in order.

Get those kids reading.