A New York Times #1 bestseller
On the New York Times Bestseller List for more than 52 consecutive weeks
Includes an excerpt from the much-anticipated sequel and an interview with author Ransom Riggs
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 … 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.
“A tense, moving, and wondrously strange first novel. The photographs and text work together brilliantly to create an unforgettable story.” John Green, New York Times bestselling author of The Fault in Our Stars
“With its X-Men: First Class-meets-time-travel story line, David Lynchian imagery, and rich, eerie detail, it’s no wonder Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children has been snapped up by Twentieth Century Fox. B+” Entertainment Weekly
“Peculiar doesn’t even begin to cover it. Riggs’ chilling, wondrous novel is already headed to the movies.” People
“You’ll love it if you want a good thriller for the summer. It’s a mystery, and you’ll race to solve it before Jacob figures it out for himself.” Seventeen
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The House in the Cerulean Sea + Back to the Future + Groundhog Day + The Diary of Anne Frank
Jacob Portman grew up listening to his grandfather’s stories. Some were horrific, with his family being hunted by the Nazis. Some were fantastical, like the island of peculiar children where he went when he was saved. Peculiar, like the boy that had bees living inside of him. All had pictures to go with it. As he grows up, Jacob starts to think the photos are doctored and the stories are just stories. What will it take for him to believe?
I hear people use the phrase “felt like I was coming home” a lot. That’s the best way I can describe a lot of the books I reread. There’s something so comforting about the book–from the cover to the characters, and in this book, the photos. If you go to Ransom’s IG, he did a fantabulous live last Friday, where he gave us the original ideas (it was originally going to be an illustrated poetry book, like Amphigorey). Again, I can’t praise this book enough. Not only are the characters and world extremely well-fleshed out, but Ransom has done a totally unique thing by shaping his story around old vintage photos he found. I’m extremely sad that just as I’m coming back to the series, the final book comes out next month.
Buy this book for yourself or someone looking to get lost in time. If you’re twisted, get it for someone who says pictures are for kids’ books.
My wife read Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children when it came out in 2011 and thought I’d like it. Unfortunately, I haven’t gotten to it on my reading stack until now. I liked the book well enough, but had some reservations.
Before I get to the book, I have to describe how the author, Ransom Riggs, conceived of it. He started collecting weird old black and white photographs at flea markets–things like children floating in the air, or young women in elaborate mourning clothes, or a man covered in bees. Some of them must have resulted from photographic tricks, others simply begged the question why somebody would take such a picture. At some point, he started wondering if he could make a story out of them, and the idea for his first novel was born. The photos are, in fact, scattered throughout the novel, and act as an interesting complement to the writing.
The book is about a teen-ager named Jacob whose grandfather has always told him wondrous stories about his childhood in an orphanage on an island off the English coast where kids with bizarre powers lived separate from the rest of society. When his grandfather is killed by a monster that only he seems to have seen, Jacob is sent to a psychiatrist who recommends to his parents that Jacob should go to the island, where he can work out some of his mental issues. At summer break, his dad, an amateur ornithologist who himself wants to spend a few weeks on the island searching for a rare bird, takes Jacob. It’s probably no surprise that Jacob discovers his grandfather’s stories were not just made up….
It’s actually quite a beautifully odd story, and the photos add something to the atmosphere. But they also take something away. When I read a book, I like to use my imagination, and I didn’t need the pictures of the children. In fact, I rather came to resent the way the pictures dictated how I should picture the story in my head. I have to conclude that their use was a gimmick, and Riggs would have been better served using them simply as inspiration, and letting his story speak for itself. (Of course, he would have foregone a certain amount of publicity that’s accompanied the use of the photos in his book, but that’s a different matter.)
Another problem is that Riggs is clearly a writer who doesn’t necessarily plan things out all the way, but just starts writing and sees where the story takes him. And that’s great–that’s the kind of writer I am, and I feel it lets characters breathe, and lets the story take turns that never would occur otherwise. But I do think there are one or two places in this book where Riggs writes himself into a corner and can only get out of it with plot twists that feel contrived.
Nevertheless this was a fun and unusual novel, and quite easy to read despite some of its surrealistic touches. Any adult fan of fantasy literature would probably enjoy it.
I ABSOLUTELY LOVE THIS BOOK. Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children is a really great book! I loved the wacky photos in the book. The characters are so interesting, and I love the way he names them as ‘peculiars’ instead of just some basic word like a witch or something, but I did have a bit of trouble understanding it, and often times I had to set it down. Once I got to the part about the ymbrynes and the loopholes, it got really confusing, and I wound up reading paragraphs over and over again to understand them, and I usually don’t have any trouble with that. I really recommend this if you are good at understanding and comprehending whats in the book, but if not, it might be a little tough for you to read which can make you enjoy the experience of reading it less.
I recommend the book! Not the movie.
Along the same vein as “Big Fish: A Novel of Mythic Proportions” by Daniel Wallace (which was also made into a movie by Tim Burton), this magical story is of a boy searching for answers to his grandfather’s past.
All Jacob’s childhood was spent listening to his grandfather’s stories. He dismissed them as outlandish tall tales until the events of one fateful night sent him on a journey of a lifetime.
This adventurous mystery springs to life with colorful characters, loopholes in time, and suspenseful moments. The multi-layered plot is pretty light and fast paced, making it a very enjoyable read.
A great book for when you want to escape to another world.
I think this series is pretty amazing it is an unpredictable story with a lot of twist a boy named Jacobwhose live will completely change and there a lot of hard choices through the way and a twisted romance with interesting characters each one is unique and have an amazing back story and each one have its own personality and tragic events there are new characters every book and the evil character have a good background story too
Highly recommended still waiting for the new book!
good
Wonderful world of a different realm twisted with ours where the children are special.
Loved this book! I’m usually an avid romance reader but all of these books transported me to another place and another time in another kind of world. Love, love, love this series!
Wacky pictures and a fun story! I enjoyed this book. 🙂
One of my favorite series. I love Riggs writing and the antique photos he pairs with the story really help add to its oddities.
This book is just amazing when I read this book it was like I was in there wourld so this book is amazing
Wow. That’s all I can say about this book- it is so unexpectedly good that it leaves a hole in your soul where the book used to be.
Loved the writing style and the creepy pics! After a whimsical first half, the shift to action and horror in the second part made it almost feel like an entirely different story, but didn’t detract from my overall enjoyment.
I saw the movie first and thought it was interesting. The book is WAY better than the movie, but it is still really weird. I like how all the characters are so different. And the time loop thing was cool. The creepy pictures were awesome. My biggest problem with the book was that it was slow in some parts. Not sure if I’ll read the rest of the series, but it was an interesting story.
I loved this novel because it had a very good world. It was like harry potter in how there is so much details in loop holes and different peculiarities.
it was amazing to read and has an intricate storyline
This book is so good, leading to an amazing series. Character creation and world building are it’s number one attributes, but you’ll walk away feeling so much more.
I wasn’t sure what to expect when I first started the book, but then I really got into the characters and story line. I enjoyed it so much that I went out right away to by the second book in the series. I am now currently working on reading the fourth book.
This is one of my favorite foods and would recommend it to anyone