"When Did You See Her Last?"

by Lemony Snicket, Seth (Illustrator)

Overview

I should have asked the question "How could someone who was missing be in two places at once?" Instead, I asked the wrong question -- four wrong questions, more or less. This is the account of the second.

In the fading town of Stain'd-by-the-Sea, young apprentice Lemony Snicket has a new case to solve when he and his chaperone are hired to find a missing girl. Is the girl a runaway? Or was she kidnapped? Was she seen last at the grocery store? Or could she have stopped at the diner? Is it really any of your business? These are All The Wrong Questions.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780316225038
Publisher:	Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Publication date:	10/15/2013
Series:	All the Wrong Questions Series , #2
Sold by:	Hachette Digital, Inc.
Format:	eBook
Pages:	272
Sales rank:	884,086
File size:	11 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.
Age Range:	9 - 12 Years

About the Author

Lemony Snicket was once referred to as a missing person by someone who knew where he was all along. He is also referred to as the author of the thirteen volumes in A Series of Unfortunate Events, and "Who Could That Be at This Hour?" the first in a four book series collectively known as All The Wrong Questions.

Seth has undergone and portrayed many dire circumstances. His multi-award-winning talents are evident in cartoons, graphic novels, and a barbershop located in the city of Guelph, Canada, where he resides.

Hometown:

Snicket is something of a nomad. Handler lives in San Francisco, California.

Date of Birth:

February 28, 1970

Place of Birth:

Handler was born in San Francisco in 1970, and says Snicket's family has roots in a land that's now underwater.

Education:

Handler is a 1992 graduate of Wesleyan University in Connecticut.

Website:

http://www.lemonysnicket.com

Editorial Reviews

The thirteen novels of Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events sold more than 60 million copies and raised almost as many questions as they answered. Now in a new prequel to that tridecalogy, Snicket delves into his life before the Baudelaire twins were born. Readers pondering questions about how he got that way will be gratified by the novel's description of his early apprenticeship at the V.F.D. A perfect diversion for wickedly wise young readers; editor's recommendation.

09/01/2013
Gr 4–6—In this follow-up to "Who Could That Be at This Hour?" (Little, Brown, 2012) 12-year-old Lemony Snicket is an apprentice in a mysterious organization and still stationed in Stain'd by the Sea with his stern and unimaginative chaperone, S. Theodora Markson. (Readers still don't know what the S. stands for.) Lemony and his mentor have been assigned to investigate the mysterious disappearance of Cleo Knight, a brilliant chemist and daughter of the richest couple in town. Markson is content to believe the far-fetched theory that Miss Knight has run away to join the circus and considers the case closed. Lemony is convinced that the girl's disappearance is connected to a string of recent crimes in town and believes that only one man can be responsible: the villainous Hangfire. With a little help from his friends (most of whom are familiar faces from the first book), Lemony sets out to find Miss Knight himself and to stop Hangfire and his dastardly accomplices in their tracks. While the abundant wordplay and several unanswered questions may trip up some younger readers, Snicket goes to great lengths to keep his audience up to speed, recounting backstory and defining advanced vocabulary in a way that is never patronizing, and is in fact fairly humorous. The author's trademark wit and talent for sustaining suspense make this fast-paced, noir mystery a fun choice for kids who enjoy a good whodunit. And for the faithful fans of Snicket's "A Series of Unfortunate Events" (HarperCollins), this is a must-have.—Liz Overberg, Darlington School, Rome, GA

School Library Journal

"The author's trademark wit and talent for sustaining suspense make this fast-paced, noir mystery a fun choice for kids who enjoy a good whodunit."—School Library Journal

"Reading this second adventure is like playing a combination of Clue and a children's literature version of Trivial Pursuit."—The Horn Book

"Chock-full of linguistic play and literary allusions to children's and classic literature, this is adventure mystery for young readers who like to think as they read."—Kirkus

"Snicket introduces a sometimes charming, more often alarming cast of characters-all whom keep pages turning."—Booklist

From the Publisher

"Demands to be read twice: once for the laughs and the second time for the clues."

The Boston Globe

Praise for "Who Could That Be at This Hour?":
"A Pink Panther-esque page turner...exceptionally literary and entirely singular. Characterized by linguistic playfulness and an appreciation for the archaic, "Who Could That Be at This Hour?" is frequently laugh-out-loud hilarious...illustrations by celebrated cartoonist Seth only add to the throwback gumshoe vibe of this outrageous, long-overdue, middle-grade follow-up series from a truly beloved narrator."

Los Angeles Times

"There's no stopping Snicket!"

Booklist

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. C.A. © AudioFile 2013, Portland, Maine

NOVEMBER 2013 - AudioFile

2013-08-15
Questions answered, question posed (the wrong one again). Mysteries solved, mystery deepens…. Nearly 13-year-old Lemony Snicket chased the missing statue of the Bombinating Beast under the inept, ignorant and annoying supervision of his mentor S. Theodora Merkson ("Who Could That Be at This Hour?", 2012). That case didn't turn out too well. They now have a new case, and Theodora looks to be pursuing this as ineptly as she did before. The duo is searching for Miss Cleo Knight, daughter of the heirs of Ink Inc. Her unconcerned parents appear to have been drugged by their private apothecary, Dr. Flammarion, but housekeepers Zara and Zora are deeply worried. Cleo's a brilliant chemist, but shallow investigation points to her having run off to join the circus. Young Mr. Snicket knows most things are not as they seem at first, and while his mentor celebrates solving the case, he investigates further, with the help of associates from his last adventure, and discovers connections to their last case…and the case his sister Kit is working on. Snicket's second of four All the Wrong Questions is more sly noir for preteens. Chock-full of linguistic play and literary allusions to children's and classic literature, this is adventure mystery for young readers who like to think as they read. Little is answered definitively, but fans won't mind; they'll just be pleased there are two more young Snicket adventures to come. (Mystery. 8-14)

Kirkus Reviews