"After losing her parents, young Mary Lennox is sent from India to live in her uncle's gloomy mansion on the wild English moors. She is lonely and has nobody with whom to play, but one day she learns of a secret garden in the grounds that no one is allowed to enter. Then Mary uncovers an old key in a flowerbed--and a gust of magic leads her to a hidden door that reveals a world she could never have imagined." --back cover

On the run as suspected murderers, the unlucky Baudelaire orphans find themselves trapped in the Caligari Carnival, where they must masquerade as freaks in order to hide from the evil Count Olaf.

"As the three Baudelaire orphans warily approach their new home Prufrock Preparatory School, they can't help but notice the enormous stone arch bearing the school's motto Memento Mori or 'Remember you will die.' This is not a cheerful greeting and certainly marks an inauspicious beginning to a very bleak story."--publisher's website.

On the run after being falsely accused of murder, the three Baudelaire orphans find themselves in the Heimlich Hospital, with the evil Count Olaf in close pursuit.

Sara Crewe, a pupil at Miss Minchin's London School, is left in poverty when her father dies, but is later rescued by a mysterious benefactor.

"Left orphaned and physically flawed in a civilization that shuns and discards the weak, Kira faces a frighteningly uncertain future. Her neighbors are hostile, and no one but a small boy offers to help. When she is summoned to judgment by The Council of Guardians, Kira prepares to fight for her life. But the Council, to her surprise, has plans for her. Blessed with an almost magical talent that keeps her alive, the young girl faces new responsibilities...

In the perilous Mortmain Mountains, Klaus and Violet Baudelaire meet another well-read person, who helps them try to rescue Sunny from the villainous Count Olaf and his henchmen as they all near "the last safe place."

The woeful saga of the Baudelaire orphans continues as evil Count Olaf discovers their whereabouts at Esme̹ Squalor's seventy-one bedroom penthouse and concocts a new plan for stealing their family fortune.

When Emily's father dies, leaving her an orphan, she is sent to live with a stern aunt in Prince Edward Island, where her resourcefulness and love of writing help her adjust to a new way of life

"Even less is known about book the twelfth in this alarming phenomenon. What we do know is contained in the following brief list: In this book, things only get worse; Count Olaf is still evil; The Baudelaire orphans do not win a contest; The title begins with the word ‘The’" --publisher's website