The Reptile Room (A Series of Unfortunate Events, Book 2) (by Lemony Snicket)

THE REPTILE ROOM is the second in Lemony Snicket's Series of Unfortunate Events books that follow the rotten, cursed life of the Baudelaire children. This installment plays less on their ill luck -- that can safely be taken for granted -- and more on the story at hand, a mystery cunningly unraveled by the children. Snicket presents it almost like a play, with plenty of detail and a drawing-room atmosphere.

Snicket does not rely on shock value to keep his audience's interest -- he actually prepares them well for the bad tidings to come -- but rather animates his bleak comedy with a suspenseful mystery that gathers momentum. He ably handles unhappy emotions that steal over the Baudelaire children -- and probably are experienced by some readers as well -- such as the "dark and curious feeling of falling that accompanies any great loss."