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Summary and Reviews of The Carnivorous Carnival by Lemony Snicket

The Carnivorous Carnival by Lemony Snicket, Brett Helquist

The Carnivorous Carnival

Book the Ninth (A Series of Unfortunate Events)

by Lemony Snicket, Brett Helquist
  • Critics' Consensus (1):
  • Readers' Rating (29):
  • First Published:
  • Oct 1, 2002, 304 pages
  • Paperback:
  • Jan 2003, 286 pages
  • Rate this book

About This Book

Book Summary

In the continuing, appalling tales of the Baudelaire siblings, the children are on the run having been falsely accused of murder, so they hide in the carnival, as part of Madame Lulu's House of Freaks. Ages 9+

Everybody loves a carnival! Who can fail to delight in the colorful people, the unworldly spectacle, the fabulous freaks? A carnival is a place for good family fun, as long as one has a family, that is. For the Baudelaire orphans, their time at a carnival turns out to be yet another episode in a now unbearable series of unfortunate events. In fact, in this appalling ninth installment in Lemony Snicket's serial, the siblings must confront a terrible lie, an ambidextrous person, a caravan, and Chabo the wolf baby.

Chapter One

When my workday is over, and I have closed my notebook, hidden my pen, and sawed holes in my rented canoe so that it cannot be found, I often like to spend the evening in conversation with my few surviving friends. Sometimes we discuss literature. Sometimes we discuss the people who are trying to destroy us, and if there is any hope of escaping from them. And sometimes we discuss frightening and troublesome animals that might be nearby, and this topic always leads to much disagreement over which part of a frightening and troublesome beast is the most frightening and troublesome. Some say the teeth of the beast, because teeth are used for eating children, and often their parents, and gnawing their bones. Some say the claws of the beast, because claws are used for ripping things to shreds. And some say the hair of the beast, because hair can make allergic people sneeze.

But I always insist that the most frightening part of any beast is its belly, for the simple ...

Please be aware that this discussion guide will contain spoilers!
CLICK HERE for a generic reading guide for the series.
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Reviews

Media Reviews

Publishers Weekly
...the Baudelaire siblings are falsely accused of murder. On the run from Count Olaf (the real killer), the three disguise themselves in Madame Lulu's House of Freaks.

Reader Reviews

lologirl18

A Good Book!
I think this book was the most reveling of the entire series and it is an extraordinary book. I think it is the most suspenseful book I've ever read and it's a good fit for almost any type of book reader especially people who like adventure, suspense...   Read More
Anonymous

The Carnivorous Carnival
I think this book was good, and in order to understand it, you definitely must have read the first eight books, but in this book, they are at a carnival this time. At this carnival they have to disguise themselves this time as freaks. They have to ...   Read More
marykate

on and off good
I thought it was good most of the time but it could get boring. For the most part it was awesome.
bigez06

The Carnivorous Carnival
If I could rate this book a 10 I would do it the series has got me totaly HOOKED

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