Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs

Can a world exist within our own where “peculiar” children live?

Jacob loves his Grandfather and the fairy stories he tells him, until he grows older and tired of the “make-believe” world his Grandfather tells him about.  His belief is gone until one day when his Grandfather is mysteriously killed.  No one will believe Jacob that a monster killed his Grandfather.  After finding a clue that leads Jacob to believe that his Grandfather may have been telling the truth,  Jacob travels with his father to a mysterious island outside of England where his Grandfather lived as a refugee escaping from the Nazis.  Where is the school and will it reveal the truth to Jacob?

This story is written around strange black and white pictures of peculiar children or adults that fit into the story.  It is a creative and unique idea for a book and I loved it.  I loved the world building and the time travel in this novel.  In particular the time loop with the bomb falling that never quite explodes on the children was a vivid scene.  When the book ended, I wanted more.  I was glad to see there are more books and a movie – I need to check them out!  For those that have read the series and watched the movie, what did you think?

I loved that it was a coming of age story, but a coming of age story where you discover that fairy tales are real instead of false.  I also loved Jacob’s journey to find what was “peculiar” about himself.

Favorite Quotes:

“We cling to our fairy tales until the price for believing them becomes too high, which for me was the day in second grade when Robbie Jensen pantsed me at lunch in front of a table of girls and announced that I believed in fairies.”

“It ended abruptly at a forest of skeletal trees, branches spindling up like the tips of we paintbrushes, and for a while the path becomes so lost beneath fallen trunks and carpets of ivy that navigating it was a matter of faith.”

“I used to dream about escaping my ordinary life, but my life was never ordinary.  I had simply failed to notice how extraordinary it was.”

Overall, the unique story line and great world building captured my imagination.  I loved this book!

                                                                                                                               

Book Source:  Borrowed from my best friend Jenn. Thank-you!