We can't imagine why you would want to read books that are anything like The Series of Unfortunate Events. In fact, we advise that you try one of the happy books on our pleasant shelves. But if you insist on trying to find more worrisome tales of grief and distress in which mysterious, tragic, and sometimes briefly amusing things happen to otherwise normal young children, we suggest that you read these.
Aiken, Joan. The Wolves of
Willoughby Chase
When Bonnie's parents leave Willoughby Chase for a sea voyage,
she and cousin Sylvia go from the care of cruel Miss Slighcarp
to a prison-like school for orphans. Simon and his flock of geese
help them escape, but can they get past the vicious wolves to
rescue Willoughby Chase? First in a series. (Juv Fic SF)
Ardagh, Philip. A House Called
Awful End.
When 11-year-old Eddie Dickens's ill parents become "a bit
crinkly round the edges," he is taken by Mad Uncle Jack and
Mad Aunt Maude, and embarks on adventures that involve strolling
actors, St. Horrid's Home for Grateful Orphans, and a carnival
float shaped like a giant cow. (Juv Fic)
Avi. The History of Helpless
Harry
Horatio, age 11, left in the care of Miss Towbridge, gets involved
in one adventure after another, including lying, robbery and possibly
murder. (Juv Fic)
Bellairs, John. The House with
a Clock in Its Walls
A boy goes to live with his magician uncle in a mansion with a
clock hidden in the walls that is ticking off the minutes until
Doomsday. The first in the Lewis Barnavelt mysteries. (Juv Fic
M)
Bellairs, John. The Treasure
of Alpheus Winterborn
After stumbling on a clue in the public library, Anthony Monday
of Hoosac, Minnesota searches for the treasure rumored to have
been hidden by a wealthy, eccentric citizen. First in a series.
(Juv Fic M)
Bellairs, John. The Curse of
the Blue Figurine
Johnny Dixon is plunged into a terrifying mystery-adventure when
he removes a blue figurine called an ushabti from church. First
in a series.
(Juv Fic M)
Byng, Georgia. Molly Moon's
Incredible Book of Hypnotism.
Unlucky and unloved, Molly Moon, living in a dreary orphanage,
discovers a hidden talent for hypnotism and hypnotizes her way
to stardom in New York City. First in a series. (Juv Fic)
Colfer, Eoin Artemis Fowl
12-year-old Artemis is an antihero, an evil genius who captures
a fairy and demands a ransom in gold. Who knew that the fairies
could fight back -- with magic, technology, and the help of a
really nasty troll. First in a series. (Juv Fic SF)
Dahl, Roald. James and the
Giant Peach
James must escape the life he leads with his wicked Aunts by going
off for adventures in a giant peach. (Juv Fic)
Dahl, Roald. Matilda.
Matilda applies her untapped mental powers to rid the school of
the evil, child-hating headmistress, Miss Trunchbull, and restore
her nice teacher, Miss Honey, to financial security. (Juv Fic)
DiTerlizzi, Tony. The Field
Guide.
After moving to Great Aunt Lucinda's creepy old mansion, the Grace
children discover an old field guide and wonder if it holds the
key to the weird things that have been going on. First in a series.
(Juv Fic SF)
Ellis, Sarah. The Several Lives of Orphan Jack
An orphan leaves school for the real world and a most unusual
profession, that of "ideas peddler." (Juv Fic)
Fleischman, Paul. The Half-A-Moon
Inn.
Lost on wintry roads, Aaron, a boy born mute, searches for his
mother, who has failed to return from the market. Nearly half-frozen,
he stumbles into the Half-a-Moon Inn, where the wicked proprietor
forces him to assist her with picking pockets and prying into
people's dreams. (Juv Fic)
Funke, Cornelia Caroline. The
Thief Lord
Two orphan brothers run away to Venice, where they join other
street children under the protection of the Thief Lord. (Juv Fic)
Gaiman, Neil. Coraline
When Coraline steps through the locked door in her family's new
flat, she finds a world which caters to her every whim. When she
wants to leave, however, things rapidly change, and she must fight
a battle of good and evil to save herself. (Juv Fic M)
Gliori, Debi. Pure Dead Magic
The Strega-Borgia children, who live in a Scottish castle, use
magic and trips through the Internet to rescue their computer
geek father when he is kidnapped by the mob. The first in a series.
(Juv Fic SF)
Pullman, Philip. Count Karlstein
In the mountains of Switzerland, the wicked Count Karlstein plots
to abandon his two orphaned nieces in a hunting lodge as prey
for the Demon Huntsman and his ghostly hounds. (Juv Fic M)
Pullman, Philip. Spring-heeled
Jack.
Three children make their escape from a London orphanage and after
a series of misadventures are reunited with their father through
the efforts of the legendary Spring-Heeled Jack. (Juv Fic)
Umansky, Kaye. The Silver Spoon
of Solomon Snow (Solomon Snow, #1)
Ten-year-old Solomon Snow, a foundling who was discovered with
a distinctive silver spoon in his mouth, sets out to find his
parents and receives help along the way from an aspiring writer,
a precocious young circus performer, and several orphans. Followed
by: Solomon Snow and the Stolen Jewel. (Juv Fic)
Wallace, Barbara Brooks. Cousins
in the Castle
Cousin Charlotte forces orphaned young Amelia to leave Victorian
London for New York City. But upon arrival, the young girl is
first abandoned and then imprisoned. (Juv Fic M)
Wallace, Barbara Brooks. Peppermints
in the Parlor
Newly-orphaned Emily is looking forward to living with her aunt
and uncle in their grand old mansion in San Francisco. But Sugar
Hill Hall has changed -- for the worse -- and time is running
out for its inhabitants. Followed by: The Perils of Peppermints.
(Juv Fic M)
Wallace, Barbara Brooks. Secret
in St. Something
In Victorian-era New York City, Robin takes his baby brother and
runs away from his cruel stepfather, finding refuge in the basement
of a church that his new friends, illiterate street boys, call
St. Something. (Juv Fic M)