Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom RiggsMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
Before I read Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children I'd heard it was the next Harry Potter. I suppose that's a valid claim, since they are both YA novels with odd schools requiring something akin to magic just to get there. I haven't seen the Peregrine film yet, but plan to soon. The Rotten Tomatoes ratings are above average, but not as high as the first Harry Potter film. It will be interesting to see how far this idea can go.
I enjoyed this novel, especially Jacob's relationships, first with his grandfather then with Emma, one of the students at the Peregrine school. Jacob starts out as a lonely sixteen year old who has trouble fitting in. He only has one good friend and is working at a job he hates because it is his family's business. He loves his grandfather, but long since lost his belief in the wild stories the old man tells. Then a tragic incident causes Jacob to be on the other side of unbelievable stories.
His story is so strange he doesn't believe it himself. On the advice of a therapist he's been seeing, Jacob goes on a trip with his father to a remote island that was central to his grandfather's tales. Here's where he meets Emma and the rest of the peculiar children. Jacob's relationship with Emma also feels real, with the appropriate awkwardness for two teenagers who like each other, but have their own backgrounds and agendas.
The plot includes time manipulation, which is, in this case, a complicated form of time travel. Every time travel book I've ever read has some conflicts and this one is no exception. Overall it's a fun read, with a well written plot. I recommend it to anyone who likes YA novels.
Steve Lindahl – author of Hopatcong Vision Quest, White Horse Regressions, and Motherless Soul
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