Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children

One of the greatest stories I’ve ever read — whether books aimed at children or adults.

Jacob’s grandfather, Abraham Portman, lived what seems to Jacob the exact opposite life to his own: Grandpa Abe was sent very young to an orphanage in Wales to escape the coming destruction of the Holocaust; all of Abe’s family perished at the Nazis’ hands. While there, Grandpa Abe had further adventures, and then went on to become a brave soldier, a distant father but a gifted ranconteur — especially when recounting the tales of the other children — the peculiar children — at the orphanage, Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children. The stories — the unbelievable stories — are each accompanied by an equally riveting show more black-and-white antique photo.

In contrast, Jacob Portman now lives in a family that owns a chain of hundreds of drug stores. Jacob lives the life of the privileged 1 percent. No adventures for him. But the death of his grandfather launches a search for that long-ago orphanage and what became of those exceedingly peculiar children. And what was the danger that, after World War II, Abe Portman was still fleeing? In finding the truth of his grandfather’s life, Jacob comes to realize that grandfather and grandson have more in common than young Jacob ever knew.

Of course, the poignant photos and the tales that author Ransom Riggs crafted to accompany them constitute a good part of the appeal. However, even with the photos, I’d put this book against — forgive the blasphemy! — the Harry Potter series and the Chronicles of Narnia. The novel is filled with mystery, magic, suspense and even hope. You won’t soon forget Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children. I only wish I could give it six stars. show less

The advantage to being in a book club with a group of friends that have widely eclectic reading tastes is that you find yourself exposed to books that you probably would never have heard of otherwise, to say nothing of actually reading. This is the case with "Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children," a book that I didn't know existed until it became my book club's reading choice for September. I feared it was a children's book at first blush, and it is, in fact, a young adult novel. A close inspection of the cover told me this would be a suspense story, and a scan of the synopsis told me it would a mystery. So, we have a mysterious suspense story. Or so I thought.

This novel was absolutely nothing like I expected. And I loved every show more page of it.

We're introduced to our protagonist, Jake, the son of a wealthy family in Florida who really has no friends to speak of. His uncle is a Jewish survivor of the Holocaust, and tells Jake stories about his time in a home for peculiar children, where his companions held mysterious and altogether odd abilities, and were chased by monsters. Jake spends his childhood looking at old photos that his uncle shows him, photos that are too strange and mysterious to believe. He grows up knowing, as does his family, that his uncle is senile. Until one afternoon when his uncle makes a frantic phone call that "they" have found him, and Jake goes to see what is wrong, only find his uncle brutally murdered. Then, Jake sees the monster. From there, we're propelled into a search for a home for peculiar children as Jake realizes that the fantastic stories were true, exploring themes of acceptance and heroism along the way, along with love interests and a good dose of time travel thrown in, as well.

What Riggs does that is ingenious is that he takes authentic photographs, black and white images from collectors that he has painstakingly researched, and compiles them here as central to the narrative. These are the sorts of old photos that we've seen, and at which we've laughed: a teenage boy lifting a huge stone with one hand, a young girl levitating above the ground, a girl standing over a pool with two girls reflected below her. These are the sorts of photos that make the hair on the back of your neck stand up when you first see them. They make you question, "that can't be real, can it? They didn't have the means to alter photos back then...did they?" Then Riggs builds a story around the photos (which are reproduced strategically throughout the book, and credited in the end, if you're interested), asking "what if?" What if those images were real, and weren't altered? What sorts of events...what sorts of people...would make up the story behind that? That story, as Riggs sees it, is the novel. While none of his ideas here are particularly new or groundbreaking, combining them under this premise is one of the most creative exercises I've seen in recent memory.

To make the novel more fascinating, Celtic mysticism lies hidden throughout, with veiled references to "thin places," as well as a Celtic holistic view of Creation that runs as an understated through-line to the time travel plot device that Riggs uses so adeptly. In fact, the portal between realms lies inside of a cairn...and, while this felt a bit like he might have taken the idea from Stephen Lawhead, the fact remains that you can't get much more Celtic than that.

Riggs has done his research, not only with the photographs, but also with the species of birds that develop into character types (no more on that lest I leave you with spoilers). While his writing is not astounding in its complexity, keep in mind that this is a YA novel, and he's writing to that demographic. Still, his prose is punctuated with a dry wit that will leave you laughing, and occasional flashes of descriptive brilliance that made me stop to re-read the sentence.

As much as I've read critiquing how the plot devices are not overly original, the book still moves the reader through an unpredictable arc, and what I particularly love is that it doesn't tie up all of the loose ends. In fact, the journey is only truly beginning for these characters by the final chapter, leaving me wondering if another novel might follow. Fans of the superhero genre will appreciate the exploration of duty to others and responsibility that comes with power, and fans of the suspense genre won't be disappointed with scenes that are outright creepy if you're reading late at night with only a single light in your apartment.

Whether or not YA generally suits your palate, "Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children" is a book that I would recommend to anyone. A delicious read that just leaves you smiling in the end...and perhaps wanting more...it is not a book that pretends to be more than it is. But it does what it sets out to do well, and is a refreshingly original way to construct a novel. Add this book to your shelf...and please let me know what you think. show less

Ransom Riggs' Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children

Quirk Books have been cheerfully producing their altered classics, which have been fun, but gimmick-y. Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (and the prequel and sequel), The Meowmorphosis, for example, rely on classics of literature for their characters and basic plots then add in elements of horror (Zombies!) or a comedic change of species (Gregor Samsa, insect no more! Now a kitten!) to breathe a different life into the stories. So, to some extent, I was expecting a humourous book in a similar vein as the above. Instead, Ransom Riggs' Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children is a surprisingly good novel, the only "gimmick-y" feel attached to it is from the photographs, but even show more they work well, and add creepy corroborative ambiance rather than humour.

This is a strange tale of old pains seeking resolution in a younger generation, secluded and hidden family history finding clarity and at least partial understanding. As a child, Jacob is enamored with his grandfather Abe's stories of his childhood living on an island in Wales with strange children with unique abilities. His grandfather offers proofs - strange old pictures of a levitating girl, or an invisible boy, his empty garments standing in the frame - but as time went on, Jacob began to believe the photos were somehow faked, and that his grandfather was only telling stories. Then his grandfather is violently attacked, and Jacob finds him in time to receive a final enigma - a date and a bizarre clue that appears to have no relation to anything. While holding his grandfather, Jacob sees someone/thing that he thinks may be the killer, though no one quite believes his description of a monster. Eventually, on the strength of his psychiatrist's advice, Jacob and his father go to the island where Abe had lived in an effort to understand the old man, and free Jacob of his anxieties and fears. Then the story begins to unfold.

Riggs' writing is excellent, and the characters are compelling. I especially like that the lead is an emotionally fragile/damaged teenager who lacks the traditional Holden Caulfield brand of extreme cynicism. Nor is he painted a hero - he's more average than anything else, and he feels very plausible, which makes a nice change.

I cheerfully give this about 4 stars, and look forward to seeing further adventures, preferably with Mr. Riggs writing them.

(I would like to add that the book has a nice heft to it (hardback edition), and the paper is impressively heavy.) show less

My thoughts:
First off, you need to hold this book in your hands. I know it must sound strange but this book has a particular feel to it. It's heavy and it's sleek and it just begs to be opened and read. And once you do? You won't be disappointed. The picture on the cover is only the beginning. Inside there is so much visually to take in that I was never left wanting.

I have a lot of love for this book. I loved the characters, I loved the mystery, I loved the pictures and I loved the….now wait...don't want to give that little tidbit away. Let's just say that there aren't too many authors, in my opinion, that can pull off the supernatural elements that Ransom Riggs did and still keep the story real and believable. Did I mention how much show more I loved this book!?

The story itself is unique and boarders on the fantastical. Even before we are given a firm grasp on who and what exactly Miss Peregrine's children are there are a lot of pieces to the puzzle that we, as readers, need to put in their places. But that's the fun of it. I loved collecting all these pieces and I couldn't wait to see how they all fit together.

And that's another reason why I loved this book - all the pieces do fit together. They work with the story and I wasn't left hanging. There is more to this story to tell - I don't think we could ever know absolutely everything there is to know about these children and the world they live in. But, as a reader, I'm looking forward to more story instead of dreading it.

I'm still not sure if Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children will be a series but if there is a book 2 it will be because there needs to be a book 2. So many YA books these days are series books because series books sell. That may be the case but if Ransom writes books 2, I'm pretty sure it's going to be because he doesn't have a choice. These peculiar children will not be silenced.

Unlike any other YA paranormal / fantasy / fiction book out there. Hard to put down and visually stunning - you will not be disappointed with this book! So far, my favorite read of 2011. show less

Reseña para Café de tinta
El libro nos cuenta la historia de Jacob Portman, muy unido a su abuelo Abraham (Abe) y crece escuchando sus fantásticas historias acompañadas de una serie de fotografias que hacen volar la mente del pequeño Jacob con lo que en ellas se muestra: niños con peculiares características, como seres invisibles, levitando o rodeados de abejas. Pero, a medida que crece, las fotografías le parecen trucadas y las historias de su abuelo, nadas más que eso, historias que disfrazan la realidad de su vida. Su abuelo dejó entonces de contarle historias, pero a medida que pasan los años, insiste en advertir a su nieto de que los monstruos vienen a por él, y debe estar preparado, algo que Jacob toma por locuras de un show more viejo.
Pero cuando un hecho totalmente inesperado le ocurre a su abuelo, Jacob decide investigar qué parte hay de ciertas en las historias, y en las fotografias de Abraham. Junto a su padre, viajará a una isla de Gales donde descubrirá que tal vez, su abuelo no estaba loco... y que tanto los niños de los que hablaba como los monstruos, existen en realidad. Jacob y los niños, junto a Miss Peregrine, deberán defender su hogar de los monstruos que perseguían a su abuelo.
El libro muestra además esas fotografías, en cierto modo algo tétricas pero que acompañan a la narración perfectamente. Las fotos, por cierto, son reales, obtenidas de distintas colecciones o mercadillos, y la historia tejida en torno a ellas es fascinante.
El libro se te hace corto, no por su extensión, si no porque es tan absorbente que no podrás soltarlo. Los personajes secundarios son interesantes y quieres saber más de ellos, de sus habilidades o de sus vidas.
Lástima que el final es algo abrupto, dando pie al resto de la saga que todavía no se ha publicado en nuestro idioma. Aunque estamos de enhorabuena: ya tenemos confirmada la publicación de 'La ciudad desolada', segunda parte de la historia. show less

Not doing it for me.

Picked this up at the St Mark's bookstore, finding it in the usual fiction/literature section and assuming it was a horror novel illustrated with a few creepy (and many laughably awful) old photographs.


The narrative style started to bother me within the first two chapters. This is written in first-person, where the narrator is even less fleshed-out than any of the secondary characters -- who exist purely to advance the plot.

I've seen a lot of this sort of thing recently: a narrator of no substance, who is acted upon rather than being an agent of action, and whose adventures seem informed more by Hollywood than by actual experience. Busy Monsters, Arsonist's Guide to New England, Booty Nomad come to mind as (more show more successful) examples of the same awful style. There must be some writing or MFA program out there that's teaching young male novelists to write like this. They should stop.

Go back to writing third person, or at least develop an interesting character if you're going to write in first person. Don't write about a loner who likes to sit in his room and read. It ends up sounding like you just dusted off your old journals and added a bit of fantastical embellishment to take the bore off.


Anyways, 150 pages in, this sort of gives up and becomes a children's book. It just gets awfully silly. This might be due to the writer struggling to connect the found-photos into a coherent story. It's hard to say.

Not sure if I'm going to bother finishing it -- I might just chuck it on the shelf in the laundry room. show less

Jacob's grandfather tells him stories. Fantastic stories, of children who can float, or are invisible, or have bees living inside of their bodies. Scary stories, of monsters who prey on those who are different. Stories of how at a very young age he ran from those monsters, coming to America to be safe.

When he was very young, Jacob believed. His grandfather had pictures of those magical children, after all, so why shouldn't he believe? When he was older, Jacob thought he'd discovered the real story. That his Jewish grandfather came to America to escape the Nazis. All those peculiar children, they were different, not with bees inside and super-strength, but with Judaism or other things his young mind doesn't know. And the monsters? Well, show more there's nothing more monstrous than what the Nazis did.

The thing is, all his grandfather's stories are true. There are monstrous men and monsters in this world, and there are people who are different and also children who are very peculiar indeed. show less