A Series of Unfortunate Events Book the Twelfth: The Penultimate Peril
A Series of Unfortunate Events Book #12 of 13
Author: Lemony Snicket
Illustrator: Brett Helquist
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Published on January 1, 2005 | Age Group: 9 - 12 years | Reading Level: | AR: 7.4 (7.0 Points, Quiz #101791) GLE: 6.9 F&P/GRL: V DRA: 50 Lexile® measure: NC1150L |
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Summary:
In this next-to-last chronicle of the lives of the Baudelaire orphans, the siblings pose as concierges at the Hotel Denouement to learn the identities and intentions of certain enemies, encounter characters from their past adventures, and ponder the nature of nobility and villainy.
Excerpt/First Sentence(s):
Certain people have said that the world is like a calm pond, and that anytime a person does even the smallest thing, it is as if a stone has dropped into the pond, spreading circles of ripples further and further out, until the entire world has been changed by one tiny action. If this is true, then the book you are reading now is the perfect thing to drop into a pond. The ripples will spread across the surface of the pond and the world will change for the better, with one less dreadful story for people to read and one more secret hidden at the bottom of a pond, where most people never think of looking. The miserable tale of the Baudelaire orphans will be safe in the pond's murky depths, and you will be happier not to read the grim story I have written, but instead to gaze at the rippling scum that rises to the top of the world.
The Baudelaires themselves, as they rode in the back of a taxi driven by a woman they scarcely knew, might have been happy to jump into a pond themselves, had they known what sort of story lay ahead of them as the automobile made its way among the twisting streets of the city where the orphans had once lived. Violet, Klaus, and Sunny Baudelaire gazed out of the windows of the car, marveling at how little the city had changed since a fire destroyed their home, took the lives of their parents, and created ripples in the Baudelaires' lives that would probably never become calm.
Back Cover:
Dear Reader,
If this is the first book you found while searching for a book to read next, then the first thing you should know is that this next-to-last book is what you should put down first. Sadly, this book presents the next-to-last chronicle of the lives of the Baudelaire orphans, and it is next-to-first in its supply of misery, despair, and unpleasantness.
Probably the next-to-last things you would like to read about are a harpoon gun, a rooftop sunbathing salon, two mysterious initials, three unidentified triplets, a notorious villain, and an unsavory curry.
Next-to-last things are the first thing to be avoided, and so allow me to recommend that you put this next-to-last book down first, and find something else to read next at last, such as the next-to-last book in another chronicle, or a chronicle containing other next-to-last things, so that this next-to-last book does not become the last book you will read.
With all due respect, Lemony Snicket
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Book #:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13
Companion Book #:
1
2
Complete or Partial Sets of Up to 13 Books
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