Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children

You know the age old expression, "a picture is worth a thousand words"?  Well, Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children takes this expression and makes it a reality.  Ransom Riggs, author of several other books like Talking Pictures and The Sherlock Holmes Handbook, was inspired to write about the band of peculiar children because of vintage photos he unearthed at various flea markets and other locations about three years ago.

Inspired by the strange children in the black and white photos, Riggs tells the story of a band of "peculiar" children (watch the trailer here) who influenced the life of an aging World War II veteran who had tales of a childhood that seemed almost impossible.  Abraham, grandfather of the main character, Jacob spent his life telling his children, then his grandchildren stories of his childhood spent on an island with a group of other children who had amazing abilities.  Among these amazing characters were a girl who could create fire in her hands and a boy who could restore life to things that had died.  But, of course in order to be among these peculiars, Abraham must have been peculiar himself.  However, this is only one part of the mystery he left Jacob to deduce.

Sixteen year-old Jacob must go half-way around the world to help solve the mystery of his grandfather's life and death.  On his journey he finds the impossible, the children from his grandfather's youth still live.  Jacob must understand how those children from 1940 remain not only alive, but unaged. 

Riggs states on his blog that there will be a sequel.  He has searched and located more photographs to inspire the next chapter in the life of the peculiars.  Since the first was released just a couple of months ago, we will have to wait to a while to see what the new photographs say.