Book notes: Miss Peregrin's Home For Peculiar Children

By Ransom Riggs.

I was due for a fiction book this month and found this while rummaging through the bookshelves in the house. It helps to live with prolific readers.

It’s difficult to judge this book by its cover… on the one hand, it has “children” in the title, on the other hand the picture on the cover is of a girl floating off the ground with a creepy look that makes it feel like a horror story.

The story was inspired by a collection of old-timey pictures the author collected, which he then built a story around. The photos are displayed throughout the book and add a nice context. The story revolves around 15-year-old Jacob Portman. He grows up hearing fantastic stories from his grandfather about the orphanage children he sheltered with growing up in England during World War II. These kids had strange powers. Jacob thinks his grandfather made all of this up, but his grandfather is seemingly killed by a strange monster and Jacob travels to find the orphanage his grandfather was in to answer some unsolved questions.

The world that unfolds from this is immersive and gripping. The humor is funny, and the story flows along at a fun clip. The book isn’t as spooky as the cover might suggest, but it has a healthy serving of thrillingness, especially towards the end.

Highly recommended. If you find yourself ever tempted by the Percy Jackson novels, reach for this book first (and His Dark Materials trilogy).