The Hostile Hospital facts for kids
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| Author | Lemony Snicket (pen name of Daniel Handler) |
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| Illustrator | Brett Helquist |
| Cover artist | Brett Helquist |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Series | A Series of Unfortunate Events |
| Genre | Gothic fiction Absurdist fiction Mystery |
| Publisher | HarperCollins |
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Publication date
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September 2001 |
| Media type | Print (hardback & paperback) |
| Pages | 255 |
| ISBN | 0-06-175720-9 |
| Preceded by | The Vile Village |
| Followed by | The Carnivorous Carnival |
The Hostile Hospital is the eighth book in the popular A Series of Unfortunate Events for children. It was written by Lemony Snicket, which is the pen name of Daniel Handler. This story happens right after the events in The Vile Village. The next book in the series is The Carnivorous Carnival.
Contents
The Story of the Baudelaires
After escaping from the Village of Fowl Devotees, the three Baudelaire orphans – Violet, Klaus, and Sunny – arrive at a store. They want to send a telegram to Mr. Poe to ask for help. The kind store owner tells them that a van from 'Volunteers Fighting Diseases' comes by every day for gas.
Finding Help at Heimlich Hospital
The Baudelaire children think 'Volunteers Fighting Diseases' might be the secret organization 'V.F.D.'. They quickly hide in the van after the store owner recognizes them from a newspaper that wrongly accused them of crimes.
Inside the van, the Baudelaires learn that 'Volunteers Fighting Diseases' is a group that visits Heimlich Hospital. They try to cheer up patients who believe "No News Is Good News." This means the patients haven't read the newspaper and don't recognize the Baudelaires. One volunteer suggests the children look for a special library to find information about V.F.D.
Secrets in the Library
The three orphans decide to help Hal, an older man who works in Heimlich Hospital's Library of Records. Hal cannot see well and won't let them read any of the files. So, the Baudelaires sadly trick him to get his keys so they can enter the library at night.
While looking through files about their own family, they find only the thirteenth page of their file. The other pages were taken by investigators. On this page, they discover that one of their parents might have survived the fire that destroyed their home!
Danger at the Hospital
Suddenly, Esmé Squalor bursts into the library. She wants to destroy the children and the files to protect Count Olaf from the crimes he has committed. As they try to escape, Klaus and Sunny squeeze through a small shaft. But Violet is captured by Count Olaf, who hides her from her siblings.
Klaus and Sunny use the volunteers' patient list to find Violet. They realize Count Olaf has changed Violet's name using an anagram (a word made by mixing up the letters of another word). They track her to the surgery room.
A Risky Operation
Count Olaf, disguised as Dr. Mattathias Madycle-Sküll, announces over the intercom that Violet will have a serious brain surgery called a craniectomy. Klaus and Sunny quickly disguise themselves as Dr. Tocuna and Nurse Flo. They plan to pretend to do the surgery with the Hook-handed man and the Bald Man, who are both Count Olaf's helpers.
While Klaus and Sunny try to stall the surgery so Violet can wake up, Hal angrily accuses the Baudelaires of setting fires. The hospital then starts to burn down. Violet finally wakes up, and they try to escape by hiding in a storage room. Count Olaf's henchperson (a helper) tries to break in.
Escape and a New Clue
The Baudelaires safely jump out of a window using a makeshift bungee rope Violet created. Count Olaf's henchperson gets trapped as the fire spreads. The children then hide in the trunk of Count Olaf's car. They overhear him talking about finding the "Snicket files," which seem to hold important information about V.F.D., Jacques Snicket, and the Baudelaire family.
TV Show Adaptation
This book was made into the seventh and eighth episodes of the second season of the television series on Netflix.
See also
In Spanish: El hospital hostil para niños
