Hollow City, by Ransom Riggs

I tried to read Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children several times when it first came out. I could never get into it - I think a large part of that was that the photos in the novel looked alarmingly similar to the images in the "American Horror Story" TV show commercials, and I was just too terrified to see the book through. I recently read (and LOVED!) it, though, since its sequel Hollow City came out.

Hollow City picks up right where Miss Peregrine's Home left off, and it's definitely one of those sequels that mandates reading the first installment first. Sometimes you can get away with skipping straight to the second book, but I don't think you'd be able to here.

Hollow City finds Jacob Portman, who used to think he was normal, suddenly bound to the group of "peculiars" that his late grandfather (read about that in the first novel) used to be a part of. Jacob and his new "friends" are determined to save their loop and their ymbryne (read: leader) from destruction and peril at the hands of the evil "wights". Secondary to this cause, Jacob also longs to learn more about his grandfather's life and death. This quest takes them from Wales to WWII London, hoping to find aid amidst the network of peculiars that they know is out there. I realize in reading my summary that it probably doesn't make a whole lot of sense - that's the thing about these books...you just have to read them!

There were lots of things I loved about Hollow City. First, like with Miss Peregrine, I actually grew to love the intriguing and (sometimes) disturbing photographs that accompanied the text. I thought it was such a cool concept and gave the book a really interesting feel. Next, I loved the blend of so many different genres that was going on in Hollow City. First, there's the sort of fantastical idea of children ("peculiars") with magical, mystical powers. Then, that was set against the historical backdrop of World War II Wales and London. Finally, there was this realistic aspect to the novel - Jacob's struggle between his newfound, adventurous life and his old, boring, but comfortable lifestyle with his parents.

Also Try: Freaks, by Kieran Larwood; Wonder Show, by Hannah Barnaby; The Wells Bequest, by Polly Shulman; and (obviously) Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, by Ransom Riggs, and apparently there's a book three in the works!!

Rump: The True Story of Rumpelstiltskin, by Liesl Shurtliff

Rump is the "true" story of Rumpelstiltskin. Rump is a small boy - literally, he's 12 years old and has not grown in a few years - who lives with his grandmother. He knows that "Rump" is only part of his name, but his mother died in childbirth before she could get out the rest of his name. So, aside from being made fun of for his size, he's gone through life being picked on for his name, which means butt.

The people of Rump's town, The Mountain, put a lot of stock in names and spend lots of time dreaming up children's names. In fact, they spend so much time on baby names that they don't name anything else - not animals, locations, nothing. So you can see how this presents a huge problem for Rump.

Life in The Mountain is largely based on gold mining, and the harvest has been minimal, so families are left hungry. Rump finds an interesting way to combat this hunger when he learns that he can spin straw into gold. Of course, though, this revelation makes more trouble than it appears to be worth. Will Rump be able to sort out his new-found talent and better his life and the lives of the people around him?

I liked Rump, and felt drawn in from the beginning, but I didn't love it. I did like the opening pages in which Rump describes his unfortunate name. He says:

"Your name is full of meaning and power. Your name is your destiny." (2).

I just loved this idea, and found myself thinking a lot about the importance of names: how sometimes a person's name doesn't fit their personality, or their appearance, and about the amount of time that people even in this country, spend poring over baby name books. It's an interesting topic to ponder.

Also Try: The Grimm Legacy, by Polly Shulman; A Tale Dark and Grimm by Adam Gidwitz

The Wells Bequest, by Polly Shulman

The Wells Bequest is the companion book to The Grimm Legacy, which I read (and loved) last year. You can see my review here. I had high hopes for The Wells Bequest, but it didn't really live up to my standard. Although there were huge differences between the two books, it almost seemed like there was a formula that Shulman followed...like she just plugged in some new stuff in the old book's template. In some ways, I think there are readers that will really appreciate that, but I was expecting more.

The last book surrounded items in the Repository that were connected to Grimm's fairytales. The Wells Bequest is connected to items found in H.G. Wells's novels, specifically The Time Machine. This book was packed with more real history that The Grimm Legacy, which I really enjoyed. In fact, the characters' time travel introduced the reader to Mark Twain, Albert Einstein, and Nikola Tesla, in an attempt to save the world. I did really enjoy that part.

All in all, I'd definitely recommend The Wells Bequest to readers who enjoyed The Grimm Legacy - the familiar characters will grasp readers, and the plot was quick-moving, I just wish it had seemed a little less formulaic.

Beyonders: A World Without Heroes, by Brandon Mull

A World Without Heroes, the first installment of the "Beyonders" series, is not the type of book I usually read, but I'm trying to read more 'boy' books, and I really liked it.



A World Without Heroes is about Jason, an average kid from Colorado who strangely finds himself landing in a strange world called 'Lyrian' after being swallowed by a hippopotamus. Lyrian is nothing like Colorado, and almost seems like a transport back in time. It's not though, and the people of Lyrian (including wizards, 'displacers' - people who can separate parts of their body - and other magical types) are generally unhappy under the rule of their current emperor, Maldor. Maldor also happens to hate "Beyonders," or people from outside of Lyrian. It is said that there is a secret word that can kill Maldor and restore order to the kingdom, but finding this word is quite the undertaking. Jason begins the quest, thinking that eliminating Maldor is his only hope for returning home, to the Beyond. He meets up with another girl who was randomly transported to Lyrian along the way, and their quest is full of twists and turns.

I really liked the idea of the secret "Key Word" and the revelation of the word syllable-by-syllable throughout the quest. It kept me wondering and wanting to read more, even though at sometimes I thought the book got a little boring. The world of Lyrian was really well-imagined, though, and I'm curious to see what happens in the next book!

JBA Post #2: The Grimm Legacy, Polly Shulman

I absolutely LOVED this book. It made me think of another Grimm-inspired book I read a while ago, A Tale Dark and Grimm.

Anyway, the novel is about a girl named Elizabeth who lands herself a job at the New York Circulating Material Repository - a library for objects, not books. Elizabeth soon discovers that the library is full of secrets, and even contains magical items in the "Grimm collection"...items from Grimm's fairytales!  Reading this book reminded me of all the fairytales that I'd read as a kid and forgotten, and made me really want to read them again.

Elizabeth learns soon after starting her job that magical objects are disappearing from the library. She and her friends (the other library pages, or employees) go on a quest to find out who's behind the thievery. It's a quest that introduces them to a flying dog, a dangerous bird, princes and princesses, and slimy villains. I was so frustrated trying to figure out who was involved in the theft - and I was totally wrong!

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and would recommend it to anyone that likes a little mystery mixed in with their fantasy. Check out this book trailer I found for it on amazon.com: