Young Sweetness, Diane Stanley's lovable orphan, is back! Now that her adopted dad, Tex, has taken in the orphans, Sweetness sets her sights, unbeknownst to him, on reuniting him with his long lost love. Reading is key to her goal, and the place to be is the local school. Sweetness is undaunted when the teacher turns out to be Mrs. Sump, the former mistress of the orphanage. One could not ask for a better narrator for this tall tale than Tom Bodett. His pace is easy and his twang perfect. Neither Tex's cooking nor his letters written on soap wrappers can faze Bodett. As he spins this story, take time to savor Brian Karas's fine illustrations. A.R. 2004 Audie Award Finalist
(c) AudioFile 2004, Portland, Maine
Pub Date: Jan. 22, 2003
Duration: 18 mins
Publisher: Live Oak Media
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
Liam Aiken narrates this prequel to the Series of Unfortunate Events in a somber, deadpan tone that heightens its dark humor. As a teenaged Lemony Snicket investigates a series of arsons in a town called Stain’d-by-the-Sea, Aiken creates voices that delineate character and help keep clear the large cast of Snicket’s associates, enemies, and enemies that turn out to be associates. Aiken’s tone of quiet urgency will keep listeners hooked through wordplay, mysteries, good meals, romance, and the appearance of a new villain named Hangfire, who hoodwinks adults, frames a librarian, and kidnaps all the children in town. This smart and funny listen will please Snicket fans and create new ones.
(Mystery. 8-14)Pub Date: Sept. 30, 2014
Duration: 6 hrs
DD ISBN: 9781478955733
Publisher: Hachette Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
While narrator Liam Aiken evokes the wistful, dolorous tone of Snicket’s second mystery in his All the Wrong Questions series, he fails to deliver Snicket’s signature snark with appropriate vigor. In this episode, the main character, 12-year-old Lemony Snicket, continues the investigations that began in STAIN’D BY THE SEA with the case of the missing chemist, Cleo Knight. As Aiken delivers Snicket’s declarative sentences in a deadpan voice, his remote reading keeps listeners distant from the story. Furthermore, Aiken does not always play up the quirks of the town’s eccentric characters. When he does use individualized voicings, the story shakes off its languidness to some degree. Aiken’s melancholy narration echoes Snicket’s loneliness but doesn’t enliven the recording for young listeners. An attached PDF file includes the character Seth’s illustrations.
(Mystery. 8-14)Pub Date: Oct. 15, 2013
Duration: 4 hrs
DD ISBN: 9781478924845
Publisher: Hachette Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
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