Book Review: Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children

Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children

By Ransom Riggs

Published by Quirk Books

Release Date June 2011

Audience: Young Adult
Source: Owned by Reviewer

Buy it on Amazon or on IndieBound

Yet another book I judged by its cover. I picked up Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children, by Ransom Riggs, based on its cover. Oh, and peculiar children? I'm all over that, seeing as how I have two of them. The pretty, although cute in a creepy way, girl on the cover promised an intriguing read with a factor of nostalgic ghost stories. The book is simply one of the coolest books I've seen in awhile. From the page layouts to all the vintage creepy photos, there was no detail overlooked in the making of this book. I was not disappointed. Not only did I read and enjoy this book, it is one of very few I passed on to my peculiar children to read.

At sixteen years old, Jacob finds himself working in a Smart Aid in Florida with no real future in sight. He spends time with his eccentric Grandpa Portland who tells him stories of fighting monsters and of a mysterious orphanage with peculiar children. Jacob has loved his Grandpa Portland's stories all his life, but in a tragic and mysterious turn, Jacob discovers his dying grandfather and what seems to be one of Grandpa Portland's monsters.

Jacob sets out to a mysterious island to find out more about his Grandpa Portland and the place he came from, Miss Pergerine's Home for Peculiar Children. In Jacob's attempt to discover his Grandpa Portland's past, he finds himself face to face with not only Miss Peregrine but also her Peculiar Children and they are more mysterious than Jacob could have imagined.

I really enjoyed this book. Adventure shrouded in mystery with a side of supernatural is my favorite. There were some places in the book that had pacing problems, but the element of the cool vintage pictures trumped all of the things I was unsure of. If you have middle grade kids that are adventurous readers, you should put this one on their nightstands. I do need to warn any readers that this one ends in a cliffhanger, but I can't wait to see what happens next!

Summary of Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children from Goodreads:

A mysterious island.

An abandoned orphanage.

A strange collection of very curious photographs.It all waits to be discovered in Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, an unforgettable novel that mixes fiction and photography in a thrilling reading experience. As our story opens, a horrific family tragedy sets sixteen-year-old Jacob journeying to a remote island off the coast of Wales, where he discovers the crumbling ruins of Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children. As Jacob explores its abandoned bedrooms and hallways, it becomes clear that the children were more than just peculiar. They may have been dangerous. They may have been quarantined on a deserted island for good reason. And somehow—impossible though it seems—they may still be alive.A spine-tingling fantasy illustrated with haunting vintage photography, Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children will delight adults, teens, and anyone who relishes an adventure in the shadows.