What if the fairy stories that defined our childhoods were real? What if days could repeat like a skipping record; school mistresses could morph into birds of prey; young boys were living bee hives; and blind men could usher in the prelude to Armageddon? What if the monsters that lurk, waiting, in the shadows were more than a mere nightmare? What if the shadowy fingers of a paradox of the imagination crooked a come-hither; and we obeyed?

Such is the remarkable fantasy world constructed by the incomparable Ransom Riggs, who, by way of this extraordinary novel, extends to the literate masses an invitation to be awed.

Following the mysterious, traumatic death of his eccentric grandfather, sixteen-year-old Jacob Portman embarks on a journey of self-discovery that unearths a startling web of revelations the likes of which he could have never imagined. Armed with the friendships of girls who make fire, levitate, crush buildings in a massive embrace, and contort nature to her own artistic whims; and boys who walk unseen, awaken the dead, and see the future, Jacob fights for the preservation of a world whose delicate beauty is the birthright he never fathomed. In blood and in secrecy, he finds who he was always meant to be.

Readers, both common and uncommon, will immediately feel welcome at Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children. It's a clever, quirky, charming masterpiece certain to become a modern classic. I read the lot in one sitting and was sorry to find the end. Luckily, a sequel is practically guaranteed. No lover of the paranormal will dislike this book. It's utterly delightful!

To the author, one Mr. Ransom Riggs, I have one thing to say: "Sir, I was enchanted."