Sixteen year old Jacob looks back at his not too distant childhood and can’t believe he thought all his grandfather’s stories were true.  His grandfather had lived in an orphanage at the onset of WWII before running away to join the fight.  His grandfather told him fantastical stories of the other kids who lived at Miss Peregrine’s home, a girl who could float, a boy with bees living inside him, an invisible kid.  Of course his grandpa had some old photographs to back up the stories, but it wasn’t too long before Jacob knew that these were fairy tales invented by his grandfather.

Sixteen, though, turns out to be a crucial year for Jacob Portman.  His grandfather hasn’t been doing so well, and the family believes dementia has set in.  Jacob’s dad doesn’t know what to do for him, and the two have never been close (Grandpa Portman traveled a lot for business).  Jacob is the only one with any real genuine concern for the old man, mainly because he and his grandfather are closer than Jacob and his own dad.  Even with grandpa’s fairly tales, which he insist are true, Jacob becomes more protective and understanding.  When his grandfather is having “a spell”, Jacob rushes to diffuse the situation.  What he finds is his grandfather murdered in the woods.  A quick glimpse of the killer changes Jacob’s thoughts on his grandfather’s stories.

What he witnessed in the woods sets Jacob on a journey to a little Welsh island.  Playing on his father’s love of birds, and thanks to his doctor’s advice that Jacob needs closure about his grandfather, the father and son travel to where Grandpa Portman spent the happiest times of his childhood before the war altered his life.

What Jacob finds on the island is a ramshackle old house barely standing at all.  Miss Peregrine’s home was bombed seventy years ago by the Nazis, and no one has lived there since.  Only forgotten memories and old photographs live in the decayed residence now.  It only seems like a dead end, as you might have guessed.  Jacob gets a taste of what life was like for his grandfather in the 1940s, and encounters a world of magic, mystery, and peculiarities.

Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children is full of pleasant little surprises, and I fear telling any more of the book’s secrets will spoil its charm.  Ransom Riggs has come up with quite a story that incorporates vintage photographs.  He has woven the pictures seamlessly into the novel, and they provide a great support to the tale– the story and the photos play nicely off each other.  In fact, I wish there had been more photographs in the book; they are wonderful to look at on their own.

My only problem with the book is that it has an identity crisis.  It would have been a great book  for all ages, but it’s too adult at times for some younger readers.  Jacob is a welcome relief of a teen character, and is easy to relate to no matter how old you are; he has to make tough decisions and take on responsibility.  He would be a great literary character for kids to share his adventures, but some of the language (and a little of the violence) would have to be toned down.

From the ending of the book, I’m guessing this is the first of a series of novels.  It’s a unique start, and I hope Ransom Riggs can keep it that way.

4 out of 5
John Jason