Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children

When I saw the name of the book I thought it concerned children who were mentally or emotionally troubled. Not so.The book contains many old black and white snapshots and studio portraits of children dressed in Halloween costumes, dress clothes and clothes worn many years ago, posed in unusual poses. The writer has a great imagination integrating the old photographs into the story. It is a great book for YAs, especially boys, but would be frightening for younger children.The book begins with Jacob Portman, going on sixteen, who feels he does not belong to his own world, south Florida's west coast. His mother is a business woman, wealthy, working in the family business, excellent in business. not much for family life. The name of the family business is Smart Aid, growing all over Florida. Jacob is being groomed for the business, he doesn't want this for his lifes work. His father is a would be ornithologist, planning a book on birds which has yet to come to fruition. Both parents are busy with their own lives and feel that because Jacob gets whatever he wants they have done a good job. Jacob has one friend, Ricky, he is not popular. But he had Grandpa Portman who told Jacob stories about the time he escaped from the Nazis when he was young and as a child was sent to an orphanage on Cairnholm, off the coast of Wales. He told Jacob about the strange people, monsters after the kids and he showed his grandson some of the photos of these kids, taken many years ago, old antique photos. Jacob grew too old for such stories, they were all silly. His parents agreed. Then one night Jacob and Ricky went to visit Grandpa. Grandpa lay dead. Jacob saw a monster lurking in the bushes. He swore he saw a monster, Ricky saw nothing. Just possible a wild animal. Jacob was in a bad state for months. His parents found a good psychiatrist. There is a letter from the orphanage Grandpa had spend so much of his childhood from the old headmistress. Could she still be alive? Jacob wants to go to Cairnholm to see where Grandpa had grown up. His psychiatrist agrees it would be good. As for his father, the island is wonderful for birding. So off to Cairnholm go father and son. Cairnholm is a strange island, rough and primitive. Frank wants to bird. Jacob wants to see the old orphanage. Is it real? Was it a figment of Grandpa's imagination? Jacob wants to know the truth. Jacob found a letter among Grandpa's letters. It was from the old orphanage Grandpa had spend much of his childhood, from the old headmistress. Could the old lady still be alive? Jacob wants to go to Cairnholm to see where Grandps had talked so much about. His psychiatrist agreed that it would be good for the boy. And as for father, the island was wonderful for birding which excited Frank Portman. So off to Cairnholm go father and son.This is a strange island, rough, primitive not what the pair are used to. Frank wants to bird, Jacob wants to find the old orphanage that Grandpa had spoke of. Is it real or a figment of the old man's imagination. Two tough teenage boys are told to show Jacob where the old house is located. The boys take him to a bog and tell him where the house is located. The pair, good friends, refuse to accompany him the rest of the way. Why?Jocob soldiered on. This is an old ruined house, falling apart, decrepid, old, back in time, falling apart. Everything in the house is falling apart, not worth keeping. Then Jacob goes through a time loop, ends back in time. The house is beautiful, clean, the food is good. Miss Peregrine, the name of a bird of prey, is a good housemother, good for the orphans. She keeps them in check, she loves them. Jacob is impressed. The time stops. It is always September 3, 1940. There is a small village close to the orphanage. The villagers do the same thing every day. The orphans are ordinary kids to a point. They are different than ordinary kids. They really are peculiar as Jacob finds out. Stuck in a time loop these kids are in their eighties. Thise book is quite an adventure for young boys. The author writes well and has a wonderful imagination.

I will admit, I was worried about this book. I'd read a lot of very unflattering reviews over the months since I purchased it. I think that's why it took me more than a year before I actually decided to sit down and read it. I began the book not expecting much and I will admit, I was pleasantly surprised by the story that unfolded. It was better than many typical novels advertised as both YA and for a wider adult audience. I think that many adults would be very satisfied with the series that Ransom Riggs has started. I'm looking forward to future outings with Miss Peregrine and her Peculiar Children.We are introduced to Jacob Portman. The story is told in a first person point of view in Jacob's voice. As a young child, he forms a very special bond with his grandfather. He wants to be an explorer and adventurer just like him. He relishes in the tales that his grandfather spins for him, complete with pictures of levitating girls, invisible boys and other oddities. All too soon he begins to grow up and starts listening to the logic of his father who insists that his grandfather is just spinning imaginative, but impossible stories just to keep Jacob entertained. Jacob comes to see the pictures and fantastical tales in a new light. The tales become impossible fantasies and the photographs are now seen as fake.Jacob is now 16 and reeling from the sudden death of his grandfather. He receives a letter that sets the fantastic events in motion. He travels to the remote Welsh island where his grandfather lived when he was a child to escape the monsters. His father travels with him so that he can observe the birds and with the blessing of Jacob's psychiatrist, he lets him explore and try to find the answers that he needs to put his mind at peace. Jacob finds the home where his grandfather lived with all of those peculiar children. Children who should be dead and gone according to the island residents, but are there! And they are alive and well! The story takes on a more fantastical turn that I had expected but this wasn't unwelcome at all. The descriptions and the story are so well done that you can set aside your notions of what's possible and make yourself believe that this can happen.The photographs used within the novel are incredible. There have been many reviewers that have stated that the pictures seem to serve no purpose and that they don't correspond to what's being described in the book. I have to strongly disagree with this statement. I thought the pictures did a great job of giving a visual to the events in the story. They put a real face to the characters in the story. It makes you wonder if Ransom Riggs came upon some of these pictures and decided to tell their story. My only complaint about the pictures and other visual items in the book would be that they are rather difficult for Kindle (and possibly other e-book) users. There is a workaround, but not everyone would be willing or able to do it. If I didn't think the detail was good enough on my Kindle, I opened my Kindle App for PC and I could then see everything.For me, this was a very well written novel. The characters were engaging, very well fleshed out and left you wanting to get to know them even better. There was a supernatural aspect to the book that wasn't overdone or overblown, it was made believable and above all, interesting. The pace was good, there were very few places that I would say that the story lagged or slowed down. The level of detail was impressive without going on and on and on about little things that didn't matter. The mysteries are well explained and the suspense keeps you on the edge of your seat till the very end.The ending was very well done. It left room for a sequel without feeling unfinished. Sure, there's a bit of a cliffhanger, but it's not one of those soap-opera cliffhangers where you're more angry than excited for the next step. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who wants to escape into another time and place for at least a little while. Put aside your conceptions of what is real and what is possible and just enjoy the ride. Due to some violence and some mature language and imagery, I would not recommend this to readers under the age of 13-14...just my personal impression.

Libro en pasta blanda en inglés. Un historia de fantasía y aventura muy entretenida y envolvente. Con un final algo abrupto que insitan al lector a continuar con el siguiente volumen. Una presentación muy llamativa con fotografías entre el texto haciendo alucion a la narración, haciendo aún más fácil adentrarse a su mundo. Muy recomendable

Die Novel Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children ist das Erstlingswerk des Autors Ransom Rigg. Mithilfe seines Protagonisten Jacob entführt er seinen Leser in eine für ihn unbekannte Welt, die es zu entdecken gilt.Von klein auf erzählt der Großvater Jakob immer wieder fantastische Geschichten von besonderen Kindern und Monstern. Doch je älter er wird, je mehr stellt er diese Geschichten in Frage, bis er sie schließlich als Märchen verwirft. Doch was hat der tragische Tod des Großvaters und seine letzten Worte zu bedeuten. Kann es wirklich sein, dass seine Geschichten nicht der Fantasie entsprungen sind. Und wieso halten Jakob alle für verrückt, obwohl er sicher ist, dass sein Großvater von einem seltsamen Wesen getötet wurde. Ja selbst sein bester Freund, der dabei war, erzählt eine vollkommen andere Geschichte.Jakob entschließt sich dem Rätsel des Großvaters auf die Spur zu kommen und reist auf die Insel, wo die besonderen Kinder leben sollen, um sich seiner klar zu werden. Doch je mehr er versucht das Rätsel zu lösen, je unübersichtlicher wird die Situation. Ohne das er sich versieht, befindet er sich in einer fantastischen Welt, die an der Oberfläche nur Gutes zu haben scheint. Doch die heile Fassade trügt. Unbewusst begibt er sich immer mehr in Gefahr und wird vom Entdecker zum Gejagten.Riggs Werk ist an der Oberfläche ein spannender Phantasieroman, der seinen Leser in den Bann zieht. Ferner bietet dieser aber noch weitere Ebenen, die dem aufmerksamen Leser nicht entgehen sollten. Neben dem Thema Anderssein und der damit verbunden Ausgrenzung bietet der Roman eine Reflexionsmöglichkeit über die Sinnhaftigkeit eines unendlichen Lebens.

This is perhaps the best of the trilogy. The book really keeps you hooked once you pick it up. The writing style is interesting if not incredible. The story build up is exciting and you do want to go through the pages. This book alone is 5 STAR+.SPOILER ALERT:If this was a stand alone book, this would have been a fantastic read and don't get me wrong, this is. Though considering this is a trilogy, it is really sad that the gripping narration and fast paced story line of this book is not carried to the other two. The timing for introducing suspense and excitement is bang on in this one, in the other two it is a very long drag!The second book is the worst of all. It becomes tiring after the first 5th of the book. You feel and realize that this book is more of a filler - a page filler, to make a trilogy out of it. The book loses it's excitement, due to the predictable "surprise elements" and just drags on and on. Too much drama, romance and ill fitting thriller sections - for no reason at all. Took me over a week to finish it. It felt like a very boring assignment that you have to finish so you can move on to the next, hoping it to be better.The third book gets better, than the second - but it is very easy to get better than the second, so it doesn't say much about the third book either. The writing style that was so encapsulating in the first book comes back here in bits and pieces, but this book is nowhere close to the first. Full of boring and unnecessary passages.Overall, I feel, that this trilogy could have been ended at least 2 books earlier; and I believe this could have been one to keep forever and pass it on for generations, but, the NEED for a TRILOGY has definitely overtaken the the requirement for good material. Alas! The writer has talent, this could have been so much better.

I was fascinated by the movie and so decided to read the book... well written, you get caught in the story as if you were there, in Wales, searching for Miss Peregrine... and Abe.Definitely lovely, it's really good value.

I read this book for my Bookclub. Wasn't sure what to expect. I like the ideas of loops as pockets of Groundhog Day type days or periods of time that would never end.The story is intriguing and in this book raises enough questions to fill out a whole series of sequels but still entertaining in itself.Recommend.