Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children - Lexile 890

Ransom Riggs did a great job with this book, but I am not sure how students would feel about it.  The book introduces us to a young boy named Jacob.  Jacob knew that he was different, and he thought that his grandfather was crazy, but he ended up discovering that his grandfather knew of things that he could never even dream.  Jacob’s grandfather was a “peculiar” child.  He had the power to see threatening beings that attacked other people like him.  Jacob always thought that his grandfather was eccentric, but when his grandfather was murdered in the woods, Jacob started to think otherwise.  By the suggestion of his therapist, Jacob travelled to England to see where his grandfather had come from year ago.  Jacob knew that his grandfather had been with “Miss. Peregrine”, but was not sure who she was and where she was as well.  It turned out that she and the other peculiars were living in a time loop that repeated the same day over and over again.  Jacob had discovered this loop and Miss Peregrine and the Peculiars, which included a girl that could fly, a boy that had bee’s in his stomach, and a teacher that turned herself into a bird.  The peculiars were in danger, and part of the reason was because Jacob had trusted the wrong people.  Turns out the person he trusted the most was using him to attach Miss Peregrine and The Peculiars.  In the end, the loop that they protected for so long was destroyed, and now they had to find a new loop, or die.   

At first, I really loved this book, and I continued to enjoy it as I read, but it (like the name of the kids) was quite peculiar.  The concepts were a bit crazy, but so was the whole book.  I was a bit freaked out by the pictures that were included in the book.  They were of the many peculiar children and their abilities, or interesting looks.  I was curious about the connection between the character of Emma and Jacob.  Emma basically transferred her feelings from Abe, Jacob’s grandfather, onto Jacob.  Jacob opened up this whole new world for her, but unfortunately, the time loop stopped her from leaving with Jacob.  I thought that it would be interesting for my students to think about what their lives would be like if they had to live the same day over and over again.  Would they go a little crazy, or would they enjoy it?  I think that my students would like this book, but it might be a bit confusing.