A House Called Awful End

When Eddie's parents send him to live with Mad Uncle Jack while they recover from an illness that makes them turn yellow and go crinkly around the edges, Eddie brushes off his mother's concern that he might end up in St. Horrid's Home for Grateful Orphans. But end up there he does in this story that owes much to Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events. Narrator Martin Rayner seizes on the absurd in his reading, giving uniquely appropriate voices to the major characters--particularly Mad Uncle Jack and Even Madder Aunt Maud. Rayner's British accent is light enough to give flavor without overwhelming the listener. While this is not as darkly humorous as the sublime Snicket audios, many fans will find this a similar listen. A.F. (c) AudioFile 2004, Portland, Maine

September 1, 2003
This fall marks the return of many favorite characters. Philip Ardagh wraps up the Eddie Dickens Trilogy, illus. by David Roberts, with Terrible Times, in which Eddie, in the care of Mad Uncle Jack and Even Madder Aunt Maud (if one can call it that), sets out for America and washes overboard-will he ever cross the pond? PW said in a starred review of the series' launch, A House Called Awful End, "Kids who lap up Lemony Snicket's series will take quickly to this tale and clamor for the next."

Starred review from September 15, 2003
In a starred review, PW called this debut tale in a trilogy starring 11-year-old Eddie Dickens, who is sent away to his mad aunt and uncle's home, "a tongue-in-cheek tale of a hapless youth. Kids who lap up Lemony Snicket's series will take quickly to this tale and clamor for the next." Ages 8-up.