Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs

I wanted to read Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children (Quirk Books, 2011) from the moment I saw the cover (forgive me for judging), but those old photographs from the early 20th century captivatingly creepy to me ... luckily, the novel's innards are just as captivating.

What might tell you even more than I can about this original and spooky YA novel is that Tim Burton is said to be in talks to direct the movie. Seems like a good fit to me.

This is the story of 16-year-old Jacob who lives in Florida and is close to his grandfather, who shared a shoebox of bizarre pictures with Jake taken at the orphanage on the tiny island where he grew up after fleeing the Nazi's. The pictures show fascinating images of people doing seemingly impossible things -- defy gravity, hold fire in their hands, reanimate dead objects. Nothing strange there, nope.

After his grandfather's death, Jake becomes convinced the island really exists and convinces his father that they need to travel there to deal with the grief of losing their patriarch. Off the coast of Wales, the island is far from the paradise his grandfather described, and Jake finds the former orphanage in ruins -- apparently destroyed during the war. From here, as Alice might say, it just gets curiouser and curiouser.

This strange story grabs you by the eyeballs and won't let go until the last page (thankfully, Riggs says there will be a sequel). Inspired by real-life "found" photos, the author strives to preserve this interesting (and speculative) part of our photographic history. Truly original, completely fascinating, MISS PEREGRINE is a fantastic read. (for 13 and up)