Ms. Peregrin's Home for Peculiar Children - by Ransom Riggs

If you were like me, and initially raised an eyebrow or two at the first chapter of this book, don't give up! Yes, the first few pages almost advertise themselves like a children's book. In fact, the feat of describing a world of levitating girls, invisible boys, and basically a troupe that is more akin to the X-Men than anything else and having it not be a children's book is quite applaudable. At first look at the cover, I thought it was going to be creepy and occult. After reading the first few chapters, I thought it was going to be about super power kids like from Charles Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters... (sound familiar?). But actually, it turned out to be a fast paced adventure through a time portal. Which, by the way, Riggs did an excellent job of explaining, so it didn't feel like you were watching Terminator again. Anyway, I read this book in one day. I started it at around 4pm on Friday and finished around 10pm. (I am clearly awesome at Friday nights). Please click "read more" for the full review.


(Apologies about the Terminator reference, it is a great movie). Anyway, there's no age range of suitability for this book. I probably wouldn't give it to anyone younger than 13, but my 56 year old dad enjoyed it just as much as I did (and I'm 20, by the way). Ok, I'm rambling. Here's the bottom line. The awesomeness about this book is that it uses real vintage photos from private collections to illustrate an adventurous and spirited story. The un-awesomeness of this book is that from the cover, you might expect something creepy, ghostly, and mysterious. This book is not that. Do not expect it. Ok? The story deals with teenage angst, faulty friendship, complicated love, and vicious beasts that need to be destroyed. The main character, Jacob, is what ever teenage boy wants to be - a hero and in love.