Erina Dominick, Series of Unfortunate Events

A Series of Unfortunate Events is one of my favorite series from my childhood. I distinctly remember spending the night at my friend Natalie’s house in the fourth grade, reading about the adventures of Violet, Klaus and Sunny by the light of her lava lamp late into the night. When we woke up, we grabbed the books first thing and continued reading right where we had left off when we dozed into sleep, dreaming of the evil Count Olaf and his comrades.

So far, re-reading these stories with a refreshed set of eyeballs, I can’t help but feel nostalgic and a little sad. While the kids in this series are extremely resilient, I feel horrible about their fate, knowing that it never gets better for them. However, I am happy to know that Violet, Klaus and Sunny realize that they must accept this part of their lives and use it to better themselves. At least the story is humorous, or else my heart would be broken.

I like the idea of using this series in a classroom because it helps remind us that life could always be worse, but that as humans, we can take negative occurrences and turn them into positives which help us grow as people. A Series of Unfortunate Events offers strong role models for girls. Violet is intelligent and an inventor, she can outsmart the most witty of adults. I like that boys can find an equally smart role model in Klaus, who loves to read and imagine.