Yes, not a very clever title if I am writing about Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs but to mix it up I also have something to say about Where Things Come Back by John Corey Whaley (winner of this year's Michael L. Printz Award for Excellence in Young Adult Literature). Because I read these two books in quick succession they seem to me to have similarities.
1. Both deal with mysterious events in the lives of the teenage, male main characters.
2. Both ultimately come back to the teenager's search for his place in this world.
3. Both young men have some psychological issues that require the advice of a professional.
I guess that is about it!
So, Miss Peregrine's... is fantasy. When Jacob seeks some answers about his grandfather's life after suspicious death, he travels with his father to Cairnholm, an unusual island off the coast of Wales, where his grandfather spent some time during World War II. What Jacob finds is not just some peculiar children whom his grandfather knew in his youth (mull that one over for a few moment) but also some rather nasty...creatures. Is feels definitely like many of the icky things chasing Jacob and the children as well as his grandfather so many years ago stand as a metaphor for the icky things that plague human beings throughout time. One convention of the book that I am not so sure about is the use of antique photos. The author explains in an afterword that the photos are all real and part of the collections of people who make a hobby of collecting odd, old photos. What I am not sure about is how Riggs weaves them into the story. It felt just a bit too contrived and therefore awkward.
Where Things Come Back is 100% realistic fiction. I personally love sci fi and fantasy, but a good does of reality is healthy for me from time to time. Cullen lives in Lily, Arkansas where not much happens until there is a rare woodpecker sighting and Cullen's younger brother Gabriel disappears one day. While the two events are not related to each other, both cause upheaval in Cullen's life.
It is the structure of this book that is so intriguing. Told in alternating chapters we also meet Benton Sage, and through him, Cabot Searcy, whose story intersects with Cullen's in a totally unpredictable and brilliant way.
I can completely understand why the book received the Printz honor this year. While it grapples with religious faith, love, sex, friendship, and family it is a brilliantly structured story that really is difficult to put down. Throughout the reader is asking, why? how? who? what? and is left at the end wondering if... It really is a fantastic read.
