A Series of Unfortunate Events: The Bad Beginning by Lemony Snicket

The Bad Beginning is the first book in A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket (the pen name of American author Daniel Handler).

The parents of Violet, Klaus, and Sunny Baudelaire have perished in the fire which also destroyed their home. The executor of the will, Mr. Poe, finds the orphans a new home and a guardian, Count Olaf. Count Olaf is a vicious villain after only one thing: the Baudelaire's inherited fortune.

I read this series when I was around ten years old and I thought it would be cool to revisit the first book because I enjoyed the series so much. This is a book meant for children: the writing is simple and clearly not for adults. Words like "aberrant" and "standoffish" are defined following their use. Since the characters themselves are kids, they are definitely relatable for young readers and all but two of the adults come off as mean and oppressive. I typically don't read kids' books unless they are classics, so this was out of the ordinary for me but the detour was worth it. 

The Bad Beginning has a lot of what I look for in a book: an interesting and suspenseful plot, a varied cast of characters, and a villain who will stop at nothing to get what he wants. The main flaw is the book's poor writing. Even though this book is intended for children, the writing does not have to be subpar. 

Overall, The Bad Beginning has a great plot but the writing holds it back. Three out of five stars. 

The Wave by Todd Strasser

Published in 1981, The Wave is a fictional story based on a real incident in a 1969 high school history class in California. 

Laurie and David are students learning about WWII in Mr. Ross' history class. No one in the class can comprehend how the German people blindly followed Hitler and the Nazis in the 1940s. Mr. Ross creates an experiment, The Wave, in order to demonstrate to his students the influence of authority. The Wave is a metaphor for the Nazi party and Mr. Ross becomes its dictator.  In The Wave, everyone is viewed as equal despite their social differences. The entire high school soon joins the movement. Only Laurie and David recognize The Wave for its manipulative nature and try to stop it. 

This book stresses the importance of independent thinking and of not blindly following the majority. If we are not aware of the importance of independent thinking, we can allow ourselves to be manipulated by dictators.

I think this story is poorly written; there is no clear writing style and I will not remember the author's name. The only good thing about this book is its main message, but for that alone, it is worth reading.

This book rates two out of five stars because the writing was terrible.