Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children – a peculiar piece of work

Back from holidays! Apparently you work more when you get home from holidays than if you hadn't gone in the first place! But, I'm back at it now and I've got lots of posts to catch up on.

I noticed Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransome Riggs was a new release on Library to Go and since it was read by Jesse Bernestein, who read the Percy Jackson series, I thought I'd give it a go. It seemed like it was right up my alley. When I downloaded it the file came with an 'enhanced' addition – a pdf with a set of unusual (carnival-like) black and white photos. I didn't pay much attention to them and just listened to the story.

A teen named Jacob, who lives a wealthy, yet shallow life with his family in Florida, has been enthralled since he was a child by his grandfather's story of Miss Peregrine and the other orphaned children he grew up with in Wales during the war. His grandfather has a small collection of photos that feature strange children doing very unusual things – a girl who's feet are not touching the ground, another girl with what look like flames in her hands.

As it looks like Jacob's grandfather is going insane, becoming obsessed with weapons and monsters, Jacob starts to distance himself from the older man. Then his grandfather is killed in the woods, and dies in the arms of Jacob who was trying to find him. This, and the support of a psychologist, starts Jacob and his father on a path to the very same island where Jacob's grandfather said the peculiar children had lived. As Jacob discovers, the children might still be alive, and are all in grave danger.

I won't go into any more details so I don't spoil the surprises, but imagine lots of fog, a remote island cut off by a storm, and perhaps some strange goings on. You get the picture.

Author Ransom Riggs writes short films in Hollywood and this book seems perfectly formatted for a movie script. Surprise! (no surprise!) 20^th Century Fox bought the film rights.

The book is described by the publisher as, "A spine-tingling fantasy illustrated with haunting vintage photography, Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children will delight adults, teens, and anyone who relishes an adventure in the shadows." I found it interesting, more so at the end than the beginning, but not something I would listen to again. One thing that bothered me was when I was about half way through the book I decided to take a look at the photo document that came with the audio file. The last photo is one of a note that basically tells the entire ending of the bloody story! Usually I like spoilers but this one irritated me. I'm not sure if the photos are spread out in the actual print book or not but it's something to be aware of. I'm also not really sure the photos were all that necessary as they were described very well in the story – repeatedly!

I have heard that the photos are real and that they were found and the story created around them. The writer in me completely understands and appreciates that as it's definitely something I would do.

Jesse Bernstein did a good job of reading the story and created a couple of new voices that I hadn't heard him use before. The problem is that I've listened to the Percy Jackson series a few times so I found myself listening to this book and thinking one of the characters was Poseidon and another was the centaur Chiron.

P.S. I heard there is a sequel in the works - big surprise!

I downloaded this book from Library to Go. You can listen to an audio sample there or from the Random House Audio link below.

Listen Up!

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, (9 hrs 42 mins), Random House Audio, (2011)

Percy Jackson and the Olympians

Percy Jackson is what I call a 'go to series' – I have the entire series (5 books that aren't too long) on my MP3 player and whenever I'm between books they are like old friends I can visit and listen to again and again. I have real human friends who mock me for my ability to listen to the same book, or watch the same movie, again and again. I just ignore their jeers and turn the volume up to drown out their taunts.

The series, by Rick Riordan, starts with The Lightning Thief. It follows the adventures of Percy Jackson – a dyslexic young teen who discovers his missing father is really the Greek god Poseidon, and that he is considered a demi-god or halfblood (half god / half human). After spending a good deal of his childhood being chased by monsters, he ends up at Camp Halfblood, a summer camp where he and other halfbloods learn archery, chariot racing, Pegasus riding, and basic survival skills that include how to fight monsters. While at camp Percy is given a quest and if he succeeds he will save the world. If he fails we are all doomed – this pretty much happens in each of the books. His best friends Annabeth, a daughter of Athena, Grover, a Satyr - half goat / half human, and his half brother Tyson, a cyclops, join him on his adventures. I won't go into the plot of each of the books but by the end of the last book Percy and his campmates must save Mount Olympus, which currently resides on top of the Empire State Building, and the rest of the world in a giant battle of good vs. evil.

All of Rick Riordan's books are a great read / listen. They are full of excellent characters, plenty of action, and in this case – excellent lessons on Greek Mythology. Riordan successfully takes Greek myths out of the past and makes them a bit more immediate and relevant.

The relationships between the characters are also outstanding. I liken this series to the Harry Potter books and many people who like Harry Potter are also fans of Percy Jackson and the Olympians.

Jesse Bernstein, who narrates the series, is one of the few American readers I really enjoy. He voices the characters with amazing consistency and  switches so effortlessly between characters that I forget I'm listening to someone reading to me. I'm actually lulled into believing I'm listening to the characters themselves. I think this is the ultimate test of an audiobook reader – do I forget I'm listening to an audiobook? I've even started looking for other things Bernstein has read.

In 2010 Rick Riordan started a new series, The Heroes of Olympus, that starts where the previous one left off. I'll review that one later. Jesse Bernstein doesn't read it.

I downloaded all five books for free through the BC Public Library's Library to Go site. You can download excerpts from there, or from the Random House Audio / Listening Library links below.

Listen Up!

The Lightning Thief, (10 hours, 2 minutes), Listening Library, (2005)
The Sea of Monsters, (7 hours, 56 minutes), Listening Library, (2006)
The Titan's Curse, (8 hours, 48 minutes), Listening Library, (2007)
The Battle of the Labyrinth, (10 hours, 33 minutes), Listening, Library (2008)
The Last Olympian, (11 hours, 0 minutes), Listening Library, (2009)