Riggs, R. (2011). Miss Peregrine’s home for peculiar children. Philadelphia, PA: Quirk Books.
ISBN 978-1-59474-476-1 Hardback, $17.99
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| Cover photo courtesy of Goodreads.com |
Annotation: When Jacob's grandfather is brutally murdered, Jacob seeks out the truth behind the stories of his grandfather's early life. What he finds defies reality.
Booktalk: Jacob Portman had always looked up to his grandfather, whose adventures included fleeing the Nazis, traveling the world, and fighting monsters. Jacob believes each and every fantastical story Grandpa tells him, including the ones of the orphanage with levitating girls and invisible boys. Grandpa even has the pictures to prove it. Young Jacob dreams of being an explorer and having adventures just like his Grandpa. One day his mom sits him down and explains that everything has already been explored and Jacob’s dreams are crushed. He decides that all Grandpa’s stories must also be made up fantasies, too. There’s no such thing as boys with bees living inside them and girls with mouths on the back of their heads.
Booktalk: Jacob Portman had always looked up to his grandfather, whose adventures included fleeing the Nazis, traveling the world, and fighting monsters. Jacob believes each and every fantastical story Grandpa tells him, including the ones of the orphanage with levitating girls and invisible boys. Grandpa even has the pictures to prove it. Young Jacob dreams of being an explorer and having adventures just like his Grandpa. One day his mom sits him down and explains that everything has already been explored and Jacob’s dreams are crushed. He decides that all Grandpa’s stories must also be made up fantasies, too. There’s no such thing as boys with bees living inside them and girls with mouths on the back of their heads.
One afternoon just a few weeks before his 16th birthday Grandpa calls Jacob in a panic. The monsters are coming and Grandpa can’t find the key to the weapons cabinet. Assuming Grandpa is just getting old and hallucinating, Jacob heads over to his house to calm him down. But, when he gets there, Grandpa’s missing. Following the trail into the woods, Jacob arrives in time to hear his Grandpa’s last words and see the monster that killed him.
“Go to the island. ...Find the bird. In the loop. On the other side of the old man’s grave. September 3, 1940.” (p. 33) Mourning and traumatized, Jacob sets out to find out the truth, to figure out what Grandpa’s last words mean. But, when Jacob finally finds Miss Peregrine’s home for peculiar children, he discovers more than he ever expected.
“Part of me felt like something momentous was about to happen. The other part of me expected to wake up at any moment, to come out of this fever dream or stress episode or whatever it was and wake up with my face in a puddle of drool…and think, Well, that was strange, and then return to the boring old business of being me.” (p. 139)
Can Jacob find the answers he seeks? What made these children peculiar? Were the monsters Grandpa always talked of fighting really the Nazis in the war, or are there others out there?
Awards:
- 2012 Teen Top Ten - Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA)
Book Trailer from Quirk Books for Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children:
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