Thirteen-year-old Phoebe recalls the death of her younger brother Mick in a bicycle accident, which might not have been fatal had he been wearing his helmet, and how she and her family reacted to the tragedy. Closes with an appeal to bikers to wear protective bicycle helmets.
Contains four stories that follow the adventures of young Annie, her very patient older brother Simon, and their dog Hazel, as they go on a canoe ride, suffer a bee sting, think about careers, and look for falling stars.
When their spaceship crash lands on Earth, Ploo is captured by the Army and taken to the mysterious Area 51. While her brothers, Lek and Klatu, try to rescue her, Ploo uses her ESP to make a new friend.
Siblings Klatu, Lek, and Ploo, along with their human friends Lily and Jo-Jo, travel to Hollywood, California, where the aliens become extras on a science fiction television show while waiting for the spaceship that will take them home.
Catastrophes and misfortune continue to plague the Baudelaire orphans after they are sent to live with fearful Aunt Josephine who offers little protection against Count Olaf's treachery.