Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs

Reviewed by Jeanne

Jacob Portman was an ordinary kid living an ordinary life.  He was very close to his grandfather, Abraham, who’d lived a life of adventure.  Grandfather Portman had been born in Europe, fought in World War II, and traveled a good deal.  The best stories, though, were the ones about the children’s home in Wales, where he’d been sent to escape the monsters that infested Poland.  The monsters were horrible, but the home was an enchanted place where it was always sunny, the children all had incredible talents, and they were cared for by a bird. He even shows Jacob old photos of odd and amazing things: a baby floating in the air, a boy covered in bees, one girl with two reflections. It wasn’t until he grew older that Jacob began to doubt the veracity of some of these stories, and his skepticism drove a bit of a wedge between the two.

Then his grandfather is killed in a horrifying incident, causing Jacob to wonder if he is losing his mind—or if his grandfather could possibly have been telling the truth.

This is a YA book, but as I’ve said before, I never let a label get in the way of a good book.  Besides, the reviews were strong and it popped up on the NY Times Bestseller lists for many weeks in a row.  I was quickly caught up in Jacob’s story and wanted to know what happened next.  A good part of the appeal for me was the use of actual vintage photographs to illustrate parts of the story: I’ve always loved old black and white photos and all of these are worth a second or even third look.  (As an aside, I’d love to know which came first:  did Riggs create a scenario and look for photographs or did he find the photos and create a story around them?)  The characters are well done and the plot is imaginative and suspenseful.  It’s a fairly quick read and I certainly enjoyed it. 

 If I hadn’t already heard that a sequel was planned, I would have suspected that it was the first of a series.  It’s not that you’re left hanging, but it’s obvious the strong possibility is there for future adventures.  I’m more curious how the attraction between Jacob and a teenage girl will play out.

Update:  the second book is entitled Hollow City:  The Second Book of Miss Peregrine’s Children and is due out in January 2014.