Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs is a book I would recommend to my middle school readers that are interested in science fiction, particularly where kids are the heroes, and they need to use their deformities or supper powers to overcome the evil of the world. I compare this book to many other popular young adult adventure stories my kids have enjoyed over the past few years. I'm thinking of titles like,
I Am Number Four by Pittacus Lore,
Maximum Ride, by James Patterson, the
Percy Jackson series by Rick Riordan and even
Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling . If readers enjoy any of these titles, they may enjoy the time warp twist in the plot of
Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children.
Jacob is a typical sixteen year old boy who has a special connection to his aging grandfather. After his grandfather dies under suspicious circumstances, Jacob begins an adventure to a remote island off the coast of England to find the answers to his grandfather's mysterious ramblings, and clues to the odd photos shared or discovered after his untimely death. Little did Jacob know that the gift his grandfather passed on to him connected him more to the peculiar children he would meet on the island. Will their odd little gifts be enough to defeat the evil that is attempting to unleash itself onto the world.
Ransom Riggs uses realistic looking old photographs to retell the story of the peculiar children that gives the reader a great visual into the setting and oddities of these unusual characters. This book is certainly going to be a series, as the ending, after a climactic battle with evil, leaves Jacob and his new friends on an adventure to save not only their mentor, Miss Peregrine, but the world.
Have you read any of these books mentioned above? Check out the website for
Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children using the link above. The pictures are haunting. How do they draw you into the possibility of reading this book? If you enjoy this kind of plot, perhaps this will be a good summer read for you.
Liar & Spy by Rebecca Stead is the latest book by the Newbery author of When You Reach Me. Liar and Spy is another great fiction novel that incorporates the properties of a mystery with the relationship dilemmas that kids deal with every day. I remember reading When You Reach Me and reacting in shock at the climax of the story. Liar & Spy, though not as dramatic, has an interesting twist to it's climax that may catch many readers off guard.
On Friday, May 3, Holocost survivor, Henry Golde, paid a visit to Merrill Middle School in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. Henry, now 84 years old, sat alone in a folding chair behind a microphone on the stage in the middle school gymnasium before a captive audience of over 400 middle school students and staff to retell the story of his five years of captivity at the hands of Nazi Germany during World War II. Henry, as tactfully a survivor of one of the most horrific experiences in history can, recalled some of events and conditions of his experience in captivity. He concluded with a heartfelt message to the students of ending hate in the world and to learn to forgive. Henry Golde also promoted the autobiography of his story in the book, Ragdolls, which was made available to students and staff for signing.
Double Identity by Margret Peterson Haddix, the author of the popular Shadow Children series, included a new science fiction twist to the plot of this book. Many readers are familiar with the futuristic third child dilemma faced by Luke Gardner in the book, Among the Hidden, and the six books that followed it. Double identity was published in 2005, before the last two books of the Shadow Children series. I wonder if Haddix was sensing the end of her popular series at the time, and was looking for a new angle of science fiction to push a different series for her readers.
Dolly is the famous sheep that was cloned by Roslin Institute in Scotland in 1996. There was a debate started among the public pertaining to cloning long before this very public event about the ethics of cloning, and the possibility of cloning people. In the book Double Identity, Bethany discovers the reasons behind her parents strange behavior is the result of some scientific research her father has done in the area of cloning humans. Her parents attempt to hide her in the small community where they grew up with Aunt Myrlie, whom she never knew existed. After she is continually mistaken for her dead sister Elizabeth, receives strange looks from the community members she meets, and recognizing a dark stranger that seems to be following her, Bethany begins to piece together the mystery of her existence. Is it possible her dad was successful in cloning the first human being?