Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, by Ransom Riggs, is about a sixteen year old Jacob sets out to find about the truth of his grandfather's death.He goes to Wales, a place where his grandfather grew up in, and meets a girl named Emma. She can control fire. Emma takes Jacob to an orphanage where his grandfather lived in. All the children there are peculiar, they all have special abilities. Jacob is the only one who can see the hollowgasts, these creatures are responsible for his grandfather's death. Jacob kills the creatures and returns to the orphanage to discover that Miss Peregrine is kidnapped. When they find her she is in bird form and can't change back into a human. The children leave the the orphanage in Wales and look for a new home
This novel was different from my normal reads. I still liked the story line and the characters. It was fascinating to read about how all these kids had different abilities. I also liked the black and white pictures it had. Definitely a 5 out of 5 stars from me.
Reviewed by Karla S., grade 9
Glendale Central Library
5 comments:
After Jacob Portman's grandfather is murdered by a creature that was thought to be something the old man had made up, Jacob decides to go to Wales to find out more about his grandfather's murky past. Once he is there he starts of by exploring the ruins of Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children. As he searches through the ruins he discovers that the former occupants may have been more than peculiar. There he meets a girl named Emma who can control fire. She takes Jacob back in time to meet Miss Peregrine who lives with the other children in a time loop, where he finds out that he's one of them too. This begins Jacob's journey of finding more about his grandfather helping the peculiars, and learning about the power that his grandfather and him shared.
This book was fantastic, filled with action and adventure, I would recommend this to anyone who likes horror and dark fantasy. It was very interesting and well-written, and I had a hard time putting it down until I finally finished the book. The author was able to pull off the time-loop and World War I era, which made the book even better. I also liked how there was some tone of seriousness throughout the book that showed how Jacob was trying to help these kids and Miss Peregrine from an evil no one could've imagined. Overall I really liked this book and it was a good, fast read.
Reviewed by Lusine M., Grade 8
Glendale Central Library
'Miss Peregrine's Home..' follows Jacob Portman - 15, a loner, and decidedly not peculiar if asked. From a young age, Jacob had been enthralled with his grandfathers 'fairy' stories, but quickly outgrew them as he grew older. When his grandfather dies of mysterious circumstances, Jacob wants to believe that the cause is of a paranormal sort, though his parents and therapist seldom believe him. Little does he know, as he and his father set off to a little island in Wales, is that nothing will ever be 'normal' for him again.
The first book in the Miss Peregrine's series isn't bad. Plot wise, it's actually really interesting. I really liked the mysterious aspect to the book. The use of old time-y pictures is perhaps my favorite thing about the book, because it makes you feel like all of this could be real. The characters are really interesting, too, and I would love to see them develop more in the sequels. More negatively, I'm not a fan of the sudden romantic aspect that came out of left field. It's actually really creepy, no matter how you look at it, and Jacob and Emma are really not good for one another. So, I hope that relationship dissolves in future books. Overall, I'd recommend the book if you want something gloomy and somewhat spooky to read.
Reviewed by T.A.Y, Grade 12
Glendale Central Library
This book is about a boy named Jacob who, after the death of his considerably deranged grandpa, thinks he is seeing monsters. When he tries to explain how monsters killed his grandpa, he is told that his grandfather was insane. Nobody believed in the monsters that he was seeing, and his family began to think he was just as insane as his grandfather. He starts seeing a psychiatrist by the name of Doctor Golan, who later turns out to be Jacobs biggest enemy. Jacob's grandfather always told stories of children with impossible peculiarities, and Jacob eventually finds a box of letters to a girl that appears to be one of said children. The letters are from a place in England called Cairnholm, to which Jacob decides to go. The story follows Jacob and the children with the peculiarities, whom he finds on the island to which his grandfather was once corresponding. He learns of his own powers, and joins the peculiar children in their mission to destroy the monsters that only Jacob could see.
This book is about a boy named Jacob who turns out to have "peculiarities" just like his grandfather. There are 3 books in the series, each one of them increasingly adventurous and interesting. The story itself is very complex, and the author does not hesitate to get straight to the point rather than opening with a rather boring and unnecessary backstory for the characters. He uses real found-photographs of strange children with abnormalities, which he calls "peculiar children". I personally think his style of writing and choice of photographs is revolutionary, and it introduces a whole new form of storytelling. The children's personalities and abilities are all unique and definitely well thought out, as they all have their own depth that make the story twice as interesting. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who likes a slightly creepy mystery novel, and it's definitely worth reading.
Reviewed by Isabelle D., Grade 8
Pacific Park Library
At first, Jacob Portman's life seems pretty normal-he's got two normal parents, one normal friend, and a completely normal neighborhood. But then there's his grandfather. "Crazy" old Grandpa Portman, telling Jake stories from childhood about peculiar children with eye-popping abilities. When he witnesses Grandpa Portman being killed by a tall creature with tentacles curling from it's mouth, Jacob believes he is slowly going insane-nobody else believes his story, not even his best friend, who had been there. Then an opportunity to get away to a tiny island off the Wales gives Jacob the chance to find the peculiar children his grandfather had spent years telling him about. Perhaps, by chance, they could be the proof of his grandfather's murder that he had been waiting for. And maybe, just maybe, he could be the one they were waiting for.
Miss Peregrine's is an exceptional book with a wide range of vivid abilities that the peculiars have, like the floating girl, the invisible boy, and the girl who could conjure fire. The plot can leave you hanging on an idea, leave you to it, then explode with the truth only a few pages after. The characters have optimistic connections that can send them spiraling into the darkest of situations, but they still moved forward, together, and that is what keeps the reader going.
Reviewed by Ally, Grade 8
Downtown Central Library
Jacob Portman is a sixteen-year-old boy who feels isolated from the world around him, but up until his crazy grandfather's death, he hadn't realized the true fantasies in the world he was living in. Since Jacob was born, his grandfather, Abe, filled his imagination with stories about a magical island surrounded by strange creatures. As he grew older, the stories faded, and he believed they were nothing but lies. However, after Abe's abnormal death, Jacob has no choice but to discover the truth in his grandfather's stories and venture to this mysterious island where he will find all his answers.
Mrs. Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children was honestly one of my favorite fantasy books I ever read. I wasn't really into fantasy books, but this one stood out. The story itself is very mysterious and creepy in the sense that nothing adds up. It's this feeling of dread throughout the entire book that makes the ending so...peculiar. In addition, the old pictures and letters in the book add to the depressing mood of the story. I have never read any book in such a cool style. The ending could have been a bit different in my eyes, but it was acceptable at the least. In the end, the underlying message of isolation related to me in the sense that many of us do not appreciate things that are extraordinary in our lives. It made me reflect on my social life, and I think that other teenagers would enjoy this book very much.
Reviewed by AH, Grade 9
Downtown Central Library
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