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| Subtitle | All the Wrong Questions |
| First Written | 2013 |
| Genre | Fiction |
| Origin | US |
| Publisher | Little, Brown Books for Young Readers |
| My Copy | library copy |
| First Read | November 23, 2017 |
Shouldn't You Be in School?
This series repeatedly drums up the unsettling feeling when you can’t tell the difference between malice and dimwittedness (despite Hanlon's Razor) The adults in Snickets world are so clueless that they seem ominous, and the normal kind of evasion that adults give kids - not answering questions, responding in platitudes rather than specifics - takes on a surprisingly sinister tone.
Noted on December 20, 2017
Book 3 of X. More of the same, but still I think they're fun.
Noted on December 20, 2017
"What's V.F.D?" Cleo asked.
"It's a secret organization," Moxie said. "I've seen mentions of it here and there."
"V.F.D. stands for Volunteer Fire Department," I said.
"So you put out fires?" Kellar asked.
"When we can," I said, "but there's more to it than that. We try to do what good we can in the world."
Jake frowned. "Doesn't everybody try to do that?"
"I don't understand this," Moxie said. "What is it, exactly, that you do? What does V.F.D. believe?"
"We believe in an aristocracy," I said.
Moxie wanted to type so badly that she rattled her fingers on the table. "Doesn't that mean people who are rich and powerful?"
"Not that kind of aristocracy," I said, with both feet on the floor. "Not an aristocracy of power, based on rank or wealth, but an aristocracy of the sensitive, the considerate, and the plucky. Our members are found in all nations and classes, and all through the ages, and there is a secret understanding between us when we meet."
"Like us, Cleo said. We've all read The Wind in the Willows, so we decided to use that as a code."
"Exactly," I said, watching Ellington frown out of the corner of my eye. "We represent the true human tradition, the one permanent victory over cruelty and chaos. We're an invincible army, but not a victorious one. We've had different names throughout history, but all the words that describe us are false and all attempts to organize us fail. It won't matter. People like us always slip through the net. Our true home is the imagination, and our kingdom is the wide-open world."
Quoted on December 20, 2017
The only sign she was nervous was from her slender fingers, which kept moving to fiddle with her braids. That left the other braid for me to fiddle with, but I did not think that was appropriate.
Quoted on December 20, 2017
At least half the janitors you encounter in your life are working for the enemy.
Quoted on December 20, 2017
We sipped cofffee. It was still awful, but there was something wonderful about sitting together and sipping even the bitterest of beverages. You cannot wait for an untroubled world to have an untroubled moment. The terrible phone call, the rainstorm, the sinister knock on the door - they will all come. Soon enough arrive the treacherous villain and the unfair trial and the smoke and the flames of the suspicious fires to burn everything away. In the meantime, i tis best to grab what wonderful moments you find lying around. Ellington and I sipped and said nothing.
Quoted on December 20, 2017
I heard footsteps approaching just as I was done. It was too late to duck behind the trash bins. There is a walk that mothers have when they are striding angrily toward other people's children. Nothing else sounds like it in the world.
Quoted on December 20, 2017