Jacob's eccentric grandfather dies a sudden and violent death. His last words to Jacob are, "Go to the island . . . Find the bird, in the loop. On the other side of the old man's grave. September third, 1940" Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children centers around Jacob Portman's search for answers to the clues Grandpa Portman has left him. These include the instructions he gave with his dying breaths and the wild stories and odd photographs of children who, like Abe Portman, were confined to an isolated home in Wales during WW II. Struggling to cope with the loss of his beloved grandfather and experiencing increasingly frightening nightmares about monsters like the one he thought he saw near his grandfather's body, 16-year-old Jacob resolves to travel to Cairnholm, Wales, to find the home and its headmistress, Miss Peregrine.
Jacob's parents support his quest, largely thanks to the advice from his psychiatrist, Dr. Golen. Only by following his grandfather's final wishes can he lay to rest his own demons--his grief and the nightmares. In his narration of what happens on the island, Jacob appears as an ordinary teen possessing just enough curiosity and courage to explore the mystery that confronts him. Finally locating the home where his grandfather grew up he sees, " . . . no refuge from monsters but a monster itself, staring down from its perch on the hill with vacant hunger." Once he begins to explore this menacing structure, he is confronted with the possibility of alternate worlds and looming dangers.
The narrative is punctuated by the pictures of the unusual children from Grandfather Portman's past. These actual photos add to the suspense as Jacob sinks deeper into experiencing the lives of these special children of another era. Miss Peregrine's Home is at once a mystery, a fantasy, and a coming-of-age story of a lonely young man who finds comfort and friendship in another world. Highly recommended.
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