Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs is a wonderful story of wanting to belongand the power of connection.
Jacob Copeland's grandfather always told fantastical stories and Jacob as a child always believed them. As he grew older, however, his belief in these stories diminished and eventually he hardly believed them at all, chalking them up to stories his grandfather told to gloss over the harsh realities of his childhood.
When his grandfather dies Jacob, at 16, is brokenhearted and lost. Terrible dreams and his grandfather's last words haunt him. His parents send him to a therapist, but nothing seems to help. Eventually he convinces his parents to let him visit the island where his grandfather was sent to escape the Nazis.
Once there Jacob enters the fantastical world of Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children and his life will never be the same.
The ending of the book clearly opens the door for the next chapter, which according to Amazon will be out in 2013. I will be eager to see what happens to Jacob and his peculiar friends from Miss Peregrine's.
Thursday, July 19, 2012
Thursday, July 05, 2012
A Land More Kind Than Home
A Land More Kind Than Home is the July selection for my (former) Charlotte book club. I am still trying to read what they read because they have really good selections and after starting (and stopping) a few bad books recently, I was thrilled when I started A Land More Kind Than Home.
From the opening chapter, Wiley Cash had me hooked. Set in a small town in North Carolina (which I could easily imagine from my days running through the hills of Western NC during relays), A Land More Kind Than Home tells the story of Jess Hall who witnesses something bad happen to his mute brother, Stump, inside the makeshift church his mother attends.
Jess is older and wiser than his 10 years, but his story is still supplemented by two other narrators, Adelaide Lyle, the town midwife who used to attend the church but years ago starting keeping the children during church services, and Clem Barefield, the local sheriff. Like all small towns there is a deep history and connection between the residents which impacts how everyone reacts to the incident with Stump.
Carson Chambliss the Pentecostal preacher is a scary soul, so the story carries with it some fear of what he will do next to his parishoners or those who cross him.
A Land More Kind Than Home is a eloquent, exciting first novel.
From the opening chapter, Wiley Cash had me hooked. Set in a small town in North Carolina (which I could easily imagine from my days running through the hills of Western NC during relays), A Land More Kind Than Home tells the story of Jess Hall who witnesses something bad happen to his mute brother, Stump, inside the makeshift church his mother attends.
Jess is older and wiser than his 10 years, but his story is still supplemented by two other narrators, Adelaide Lyle, the town midwife who used to attend the church but years ago starting keeping the children during church services, and Clem Barefield, the local sheriff. Like all small towns there is a deep history and connection between the residents which impacts how everyone reacts to the incident with Stump.
Carson Chambliss the Pentecostal preacher is a scary soul, so the story carries with it some fear of what he will do next to his parishoners or those who cross him.
A Land More Kind Than Home is a eloquent, exciting first novel.
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