Ransom Riggs - Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children

Title: Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children
Author: Ransom Riggs
Pub. year: 2011
Pages: 352
Editor: Quirk Books

Summary: A mysterious island. An abandoned orphanage. A strange collection of very curious photographs.
A horrific family tragedy sets sixteen-year-old Jacob journeying to a remote island off the coast of Wales, where he discovers the crumbling ruins of Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children. As Jacob explores its abandoned bedrooms and hallways, it becomes clear that the children were more than just peculiar. They may have been dangerous. They may have been quarantined on a deserted island for good reason. And somehow—impossible though it seems—they may still be alive.

Rumors, rumors... one said that Tim Burton was thinking of making a movie out of this book, and that was enough to make me want to read it. Another said that it was awesome, and it was enough to get me started... what a surprise I had! Not only was this book very far from what I expected, it was probably even better, and I would never have guessed that a bunch of old black and white pictures would make such a tremendous effect on me, nor that it would make this book so exceptionnal I had to tell you about it.

Maybe it isn't something special (to be honest that's my first time so I wouldn't know if that is common or not), but using real vintage pictures to build a story (and leave them inside, of course) is such a wonderful idea that I regret not having it myself in the first place. And the pictures are just the icing on the cake : Jacob story, albeit quite long and slow at the beginning (I personnally enjoyed this slow enfolding of the mystery but I know that some would find it a bit too much), is a wonderful mix between adventure, horror and mystery, with undead kids, superpowers, invisible villains and a dark gloomy village on a dark gloomy island where it all happens.

I have never been very fond of horror novels because firstly, I'm a coward (let's face it), and secondly because characters are usually quite shallow there, I can never really relate to them. Here it's not the case, fortunately—maybe because it's also a children book and it makes it a bit more magical than usual. Anyway, I am very glad I found the time to read it, and I would be very glad if you find it too, because this author deserves the fame he's getting, and he deserves even more to make him write the second book as fast as he can. We're waiting impatiently!

Love old houses? Yeah, I know, awesome, right?

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Marcus Sedgwick - Vampires and Volts

Title: Vampires and Volts (The Raven Mysteries, book 4)
Author: Marcus Sedgwick
Pub. year: 2011
Pages: 256
Editor: Orion Childrens

Summary: Join the wonderfully weird Otherhand family and their faithful guardian, Edgar the raven, and discover the dark secrets of Castle Otherhand. It's Halloween and the Otherhands are enjoying the Annual Pumpkin Hunt. And there are preparations to be made for the Great Halloween Ball. Minty is all a-fluster. Solstice is busy spraying fake cobwebs everywhere. Valevine is in charge of disorganising everyone's carefully laid plans, and Cudweed seems hungrier than ever and oddly preoccupied with 'fresh brains'. In fact when Silas, Valevine's long lost brother, turns up with Samantha, the Otherhands would be well-advised to check out their guests. It's not long before wily Edgar works out that there's a preponderance of vampires and not all of them have false teeth. Just when he's about to solve the latest mystery at Otherhand Castle, the lights go out...

It's Hallowe'en!! You know, that time of the year when you stuff yourself with candy, take out your old gothic clothes from highschool days hoping they'll still fit, put pumpkin brains everywhere while trying to carve a damn face into the thing... well, why not read Hallowe'en books too, while you're at it? Don't move, I have exactly what you need here. Pumpkin hunt, Hallowe'en ball, vampires, one old black crow: Edgar is back (in paperback) for a new issue of the wonderful series!

Remember the delightfully weird Otherhand family? After battling against a monster in the basement, ghosts in the attic and a very weird teacher, they are back for Hallowe'en this time. No one can do better than them to celebrate this party properly: after all, it's almost Hallowe'en everyday at the castle! Cudweed is as hungry as ever, Solstice the usual busybody, Valevine the usual nutcase and Minty the unusal preoccupied lady. But fear not, the real hero is still our brave Edgar, always ready to grumpily save the day!

As before, the narration is really the strong point of this book. Edgar is the most wonderfully funny crow you've ever met and it's a pleasure to have him tell the story from his point of view, with a lot of puns and jokes, and a great deal of complaining! You won't get scared by this book, that's for sure, but the whole point of it is to have fun with original characters, mysteries to solve, suspects to apprehend and adventures to have. Four book later, still no sign of getting bored, and both children and adults alike will love it. Does it get any better than this?

On a different but related note, don't forget that Neil Gaiman has set up this great new tradition for Halloween: offer a scary book to someone! I already sent mine and I hope they'll like it... How about you, why not sending a great book like... Vampires and Volts for example?

All details and stickers are on All Hallow's Read, and listen to our great Neil Gaiman talk about it, he does it much better than I!

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Kenneth Grahame - The Wind in the Willows

Title: The Wind in the Willows
Author: Kenneth Grahame
Pub. year: 1908
Pages: 256
Editor: Egmont
Summary: The Wild Wood seems a terrifying place to Mole, until he finds it's full of friends - kind, sleepy Badger; brave and lively Ratty; and the irresponsible Mr Toad, famous for his wealth and his car smashes.
But there are also the sinister weasels and stoats, and they capture Toad Hall when Mr Toad is in jail. How will he escape? And can the friends fight together to save Toad Hall?

I wanted to read that book for a while, so when I get the opportunity to buy it, I did. Still, I waited a year to read it.
I'm glad I did, but I can't say I enjoyed it. It's not the first time I'm desappointed by children books' authors from the beginning of the 20th century. I think I'll stop here with that kind of literature, because everytime I get angry at the author. The thing is, I always find them patronizing in their way to telling tales to children. So most of the time it pisses me off and I just want to get rid of this story and read something more entertaining.

Every character is a cliché, 100% good (kind or brave) or 100% bad (weak or mean). I'm so bored with that kind of character. They're so predictable and and annoying. I know that this way of writing was appropriate at the time it was written, but even when I try to forget what bother me, I can't enjoy the story.

Still, like I said, I'm glad I read it, because now I know what it's about and it's all good for my own culture. Not much more to say about this book so I'll stop here and try not to read that kind of stories anymore.

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Clive Barker - Abarat

Title: Abarat (Abarat, books 1 & 2)
Author: Clive Barker
Pub. year: 2002
Pages: 388
Editor: HarperCollins

Summary: Abarat: an archipelago of amazement and wonder. A land made up of twenty-five islands, each one representing one hour of the day, each one a unique place of adventure and danger (and one mysterious place out of time), all ruled over by the evil Christopher Carrion, Lord of Midnight, and his monstrous grandmother, Mater Motley. Candy Quackenbush, a 16-year old from Chickentown, Minnesota, crosses by accident from our world into Abarat, and discovers she has been there many, many times before. She has friends there and she has enemies. As Candy makes her journey between all the islands of the archipelago, she will discover a plot by Christopher Carrion to block out the Sun, Moon and stars to achieve a condition of Permanent Midnight. In order to prevent this disaster, Candy must find the courage to confront the Lord of Midnight; and in doing so come to know who she really is: a revelation which will transform her own understanding of her place in the epic events.

I already presented many of my favorite books to you, and I don't think this would feel right if I don't add Abarat to the list. I discovered this book by chance at the bookstore—the cover was beautiful, I knew the author from The Thief of Always (excellent book by the way) and the story seemed intriguing enough for me to go home with the first two books. Probably one of my best compulsive bought of the latest years.



The story works around some classical fantasy elements—a young and courageous girl with a greater destiny, magical creatures, an epic quest to save the world—but beyond all that there is something really fascinating about this story. I don't know if it is because the illustrations (by the author himself) are dazzling, or because the creatures living in the Abarat are so weird that you can't even begin to imagine where they come from, but it seems impossible to remain untouched by these books. Candy is the typical hero that you look upon to, flawed but oh so human, and all the people she meets on her journey are so surprising, terrific and terrible that it's impossible to forget them.

With the third book going out this month, the Abarat quartet will surely be one of the must have for a very long time, fit as well for children as for adults. Original, full of magic, mysteries, epic adventures and emotion, it has everything to seduce the reader, including delightful paintings (don't get the massmarket paperback or you will miss them!) and complex characters. Well, is there anything that could be missing? Oh yes, humour—forget it, it's also funny. If you a have some hours to spare, you definitely should spend them in the Abarat. The islands frozen in time are waiting for you!

Scarebaby, scarebaby,
Where do you run?
Out in the graveyard,
To have some fun?
Dancing with skeletons
Up from the ground?
Doing a jig
On the burial mound?

Scarebaby, scarebaby,
Horrid you are!
With the wings of a bat,
And a face with a scar,
The fangs of a vampire,
The tail of a snake;
You open your mouth
And the noise that you make
Is a song that the Devil sings,
Bitter and loud.
Tell me, my baby,
Was your mother proud?

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Diana Wynne Jones - Howl's Moving Castle

Title: Howl's Moving Castle (Castle series, book 1)
Author: Diana Wynne Jones
Pub. year: 2009
Pages: 304
Editor: HarperCollins Children's Books

Summary: In the land of Ingary, such things as spells, invisible cloaks, and seven-league boots were everyday things. The Witch of the Waste was another matter. After fifty years of quiet, it was rumored that the Witch was about to terrorize the country again. So when a moving black castle, blowing dark smoke from its four thin turrets, appeared on the horizon, everyone thought it was the Witch. The castle, however, belonged to Wizard Howl, who, it was said, liked to suck the souls of young girls.
The Hatter sisters--Sophie, Lettie, and Martha--and all the other girls were warned not to venture into the streets alone. But that was only the beginning.
In this giant jigsaw puzzle of a fantasy, people and things are never quite what they seem. Destinies are intertwined, identities exchanged, lovers confused. The Witch has placed a spell on Howl. Does the clue to breaking it lie in a famous poem? And what will happen to Sophie Hatter when she enters Howl's castle?

After telling you about all those authors I love, I couldn't miss on the great Diana Wynne Jones, the one who—though I didn't know it at the time—wrote the book that inspired Hayao Miyazaki's eponym movie, one of my ever favorites. I am not going to tell you about this movie, but really, you should see it. Best animation movie ever—or close to be. So back to business: Diana Wynne Jones. Not only the lady was an amazing story teller, she had a way with words that makes them almost as magic as her stories. With a little down-to-earth and lots of demon/magic formulas/potions/sorcerers/moving castle, she brews this kind of story that makes you open your eyes wide and find again in yourself this little excitement that you had when you were a kid, and that some of us still have. Or is it because some of us are still kids?



This "Castle series" is composed of three books. In the first one, we follow the strong willed Sophie, changed into an old lady by the Witch of the Waste, who gets on board of Howl's moving castle. Howl is reputed to be a terrible magician eating ladies' hearts, but in fact he's just a gigolo, slightly lazy and stubborn, who made a pact with a fire demon—the delightfully funny Calcifer, in charge of moving the Castle. Sophie will try to break the promise binding them together while visiting the country and trying herself at magic, of course! In the second book, meet Abdullah, who by an extraordinary set of events finds himself a magic carpet, and meets a princess to save from the claws of an evil being. In this Arabian Nights atmosphere, we follow him and his annoying bottle genius to the rescue of not one, but a whole bunch of princesses... including Sophie, of course! In the third book, a young lady called Charmain is called to tend the house of a sick magician. The house has many tricks in its pocket for her, and while she tries to be a good helper at the royal castle's library, she will have to solve a mystery with the great Howl himself...

If Howl and Sophie are the constant characters of the series, you won't see them that often. What you will see is loads of original characters, magic everywhere, great adventures, mysteries and suspense... well, everything that makes a perfect fantasy book. Kids or not kids, who could deny the talent of the wonderful Diana Wynne Jones?

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