Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children

By Ransom Riggs

SUMMARY

As a child, Jacob Magellan Portman has been fascinated with his grandfather
Abraham's stories about surviving as a Jew during World War II, running from man-
eating monsters, and living with peculiar children in a secret home guarded by "a wise
old bird". As Jacob grows older, he begins to doubt the stories until the arrival of his
grandfather's death. Blood-strewn, exhausted, and lying in his back garden on the
outskirts of Florida Woods, Abraham's last words are a mystery: "...find the bird in the
loop on the other side of the old man's grave on September 3, 1940, and tell them what
happened." As he dies, Jacob catches sight of a horrific monster just like the ones
described in Abraham's stories. Soon, he starts experiencing trauma and being plagued
with nightmares relating to those monsters. Believing their son to be going crazy,
Jacob's parents take him to Dr. Golan, a psychiatrist, who suggests that Jacob go to
Cairnholm, Wales, the location of his grandfather's children's home to confront the place
of his trauma. Accompanied by his father, Jacob locates and explores the old house
only to find it empty and everything caked in dust. According to the local people, the
place is haunted and a bomb had killed all its inhabitants many years ago, on
September 3, 1940.

Sensing a connection, Jacob refuses to give up and returns to the house one more
time, where he encounters a mysterious girl who can conjure fire with her hands whom
he follows, trying to question her after hearing her call out his grandfather's name. They
reach the bogs surrounding the house before Jacob realizes that the people of
Cairnholm are different, including the patrons at the inn and his father is not there.
Luckily, a confused Jacob is rescued by the girl from before and an invisible boy, who
introduce themselves as Emma Bloom and Millard Nullings respectively. A suspicious
Emma holds him captive and brings him to the children's home, where he finds it
magically transformed to the paradise of his grandfather's stories, complete with the
peculiar children and the "wise old bird", who is in fact the headmistress Miss Alma
LeFay Peregrine. There Jacob is also introduced to other peculiar children apart from
Emma and Millard: Bronwyn Bruntley, a girl with incredible strength, Claire Densmore, a
little girl with an extra mouth at the back of her head, Olive Abroholos Elephanta, a little
girl who can levitate, Enoch O'Connor, a boy who can raise the dead by transplanting
hearts for a short amount of time, Hugh Apiston, a boy with bees living in his stomach,
Fiona Frauenfeld, a girl with an affinity for growing plants, and Horace Somnusson, a
boy with prophetic dreams. Shocked and befuddled by the state of the place, Olive and
Millard explain that they are currently existing in a time loop, a place where time is
constantly reversed and where they all relive the same day everyday, September 3,
1940. This is all thanks to Miss Peregrine, a special type of peculiar being known as
an ymbryne, one who can shapeshift into birds and manipulate time. Apart from keeping
them alive (if not the bomb would have killed them), this time loop also protects the
peculiar children from being hunted by hollowgast — humanoid, tentacle-mouthed
creatures that devour peculiars. That experiment occurred in the Siberian tundra, which
was marked by a cataclysmic explosion, and from there the hollowgast were born. In
addition to hollowgast being a threat, hollows who have consumed enough peculiars are
evolved into wights, beings who resemble humans in every aspect save their eyes,
which have no pupils. These wights' ultimate goal is to gain power from the peculiars, as
well as morph every one of their fellow hollowgast into wights that will rule the world.
Soon, Miss Peregrine's former mentor Miss Avocet arrives at the loop mad with grief
over the kidnapping of her wards to wights, who have executed their plan of raiding
loops. Fearing for the children's safety, Jacob is tasked with the job of reporting any
suspicious information going on in the outside world. With his comings and goings,
Jacob and Emma begin to develop feelings for each other, as well as get a glimpse into
his own peculiar self: he can see the hollows while other peculiars can't, just like his
grandfather. Miss Peregrine's fears are confirmed when eyeless sheep bodies begin to
pile up, and Martin, a worker in the Cairnholm Local Museum, is killed. Going against
Miss Peregrine's orders to not leave the house, Enoch, Bronwyn, Emma, Jacob and
Millard escape, and Enoch uses a sheep heart to briefly bring Martin back to life. Martin
manages to inform the group of the presence of a wight on the island, but by then it is
too late as one appears right behind them along with a hollow companion. To Jacob's
shock, he reveals himself to be Dr. Golan, as well as Jacob's family's hired lawn
gardener, and Jacob's middle school bus driver. Jacob refuses Golan's offer to join him
in finding peculiars, and decides to stay with his friends. Golan sends his hollow after
the group, and Emma and Jacob split up from the rest. After a brief scuffle, Jacob kills it
with a pair of sheep shears. They make their way back to the orphanage, but discover
that Golan has kidnapped Miss Peregrine and Miss Avocet and locked the rest of the
children in the house.

Dr. Golan warns them not to attempt to rescue Miss Peregrine and leaves the loop, but
Millard manages to sneak out invisibly and follow him. Jacob and his friends follow
Millard's tracks and find Golan near a lighthouse trying to catch a boat with his other
wight comrades. During the process of saving Miss Peregrine, who is trapped in her bird
form, Millard is wounded from a gunshot, but Golan is ultimately killed by Jacob. Just
then, the other wights arrive and even though they are able to rescue Miss Peregrine,
Miss Avocet is taken away. Returning to the orphanage, they find it destroyed, leaving
them having to track down the wights and discover how to help Miss Peregrine. It is
then Jacob decides to follow his friends and returns to the present to say goodbye to his
father, but promises to return when his mission is finished. Guided by only a prophetic
dream from Horace, they set sail to find help.
 CHARACTERS

Peculiar Children
 Jacob Magellan Portman — A 16-year-old American teenager and the protagonist of the story. Jacob
becomes subject to acute stress reaction after witnessing his grandfather's death and claiming that a
monster from his grandfather's childhood stories had killed him. Everyone he knows begins to consider
him crazy and avoids him. His parents eventually take him to see a psychiatrist, on whose instruction
Jacob's dad takes him on a trip to the Welsh island where his grandfather grew up. There, Jacob discovers
that the stories of a magical orphanage and peculiar children are real and so is the monster. He also learns
that the ability to see these monsters is actually an extremely rare peculiarity as they are invisible to all
but a few like himself.
 Abraham Portman — Abraham was Jacob's grandfather who also had the peculiarity of seeing the
monsters. He left Miss Peregrine's loop as a young man to join both the war against Germany and the war
against the hollowgast, promising to make a home in America for his fellow peculiars. But having started
a family of his own during his time in the normal world, he never went back for them. In spite of this, he
was still pressured into eradicating hollows, resulting in long, frequent hunting-trips away from his wife
and two children, a secret which they took as careless neglect. Over the years, Abraham became a near-
stranger to everyone he knew and, in his old age, was killed by one of the very monsters he had fought so
valiantly to defeat. Police simply concluded that dementia and an attack by wild animals were the cause
of his death.
 Emma Bloom— Emma is a teenager under Miss Peregrine's care. Her peculiarity manifested in her
hands when she was ten years old. They began to glow red, becoming painfully hot to the point of
generating fire. Miss Peregrine found her abandoned at a traveling circus. Emma had a romantic
relationship with Abraham which they maintained even as he went to war until he stopped responding to
her letters. After years without replying, Abraham finally wrote her back simply to tell her he could no
longer do so because he'd married another woman. Emma became heartbroken and bitter but still
mourned him upon learning of his death when his grandson Jacob arrived in Miss Peregrine's time loop.
Although she treated Jacob harshly at first, their mutual sorrow for Abraham started a deeply sincere
relationship between them.
 Millard Nullings — Millard is a young adolescent possessing the peculiarity of invisibility which is said
to be quite uncommon. He chooses to go about nude to stay fully invisible, but wears clothes at supper on
Miss Peregrine's orders. He is also exceptionally well-versed in all things peculiar and, as a hobby, spends
much of his time documenting every little detail of the day they live in.
 Bronwyn Bruntley — A young adolescent possessing super-human strength, Bronwyn is also
kindhearted and a loyal friend. She respects and obeys Miss Peregrine more than her fellow wards do,
often correcting them and citing rules they're meant to follow, mostly in fear of anyone getting in trouble.
The only occasions for which she refuses to cooperate are when she is made to dress lady-like. Before
Miss Peregrine took her and her older brother Victor in, Bronwyn discovered her own strength at the age
of ten when she snapped their abusive stepfather's neck without actually meaning to.
 Enoch O'Connor — A young adolescent with the ability to resurrect the dead and bring inanimate
objects to life for a limited time by using the extracted organs of other living things. Enoch was born to a
family of undertakers and, before moving into time loops, caused tremendous confusion by frequently
bringing the dead to life at his father's funeral parlor. He is the least liked of Miss Peregrine's wards as the
others are put off by his selfish behavior, negative thinking, and obsession with violence. His previous
ymbryne was never specified, nor were his reasons for relocating to Miss Peregrine's loop.
 Olive Abroholos Elephanta — Olive is the second youngest to Claire and comes across as quite giddy
and openly friendly. Her peculiarity renders her lighter than air, making her float freely like a balloon.
 She has barely any control over it and must always be weighted down or bound to something to keep
from floating away. Her most routine means is a pair of heavy leaden shoes.
 Hugh Apiston — Hugh is a teenager with bees living in his stomach. His peculiarity allows him to
communicate with them and command them.
 Horace Somnusson — Horace is a young adolescent capable of having prophetic dreams, albeit very
scarcely. They occur most often as nightmares of events so horrifying, they have a tendency to throw him
into bouts of shock. He can be quite a snob and is an extremely passionate follower of fashion, commonly
seen in a suit and tie with a top hat and monocle.
 Fiona Frauenfeld — Fiona is a teenager possessing power over plants. Her peculiarity allows her to
manipulate their life and growth and control their movements. She speaks with a thick Irish accent,
though she rarely speaks at all, and has a romantic, symbiotic relationship with Hugh.
 Claire Densmore — The youngest of all Miss Peregrine's wards, Claire also possesses the most
grotesque peculiarity in their midst: a second mouth in the back of her head with sharp teeth, hidden
beneath her blonde curls. She is typically cheerful but becomes shy and self-conscious when made to dine
with others.
 Victor Bruntley — Miss Peregrine once had many more peculiars under her care, many of whom were
killed by the hollowgast, including Bronwyn's older brother Victor. Like Bronwyn, Victor possessed
immense physical strength. He left during the loop's early days, claiming he couldn't stand being trapped
there; it was a reckless decision which led to his demise. Until his burial when the loop closed, his lifeless
body had remained at Miss Peregrine's home, locked away in his bedroom and neatly laid to rest in bed.
Some of the children would occasionally sneak in and have Enoch resurrect him, though he always
seemed to be in a rush to get back to the afterlife.

Ymbrynes
All ymbrynes take on last names which correspond to the type of bird into which they
can shapeshift (e.g., Miss Peregrine can turn into a peregrine falcon).
 Alma LeFay Peregrine — Miss Peregrine is a highly skilled ymbryne and the headmistress of her
children's-home. She is a delicate woman who enjoys smoking a pipe and adores her charges, though she
can be strict at times. At a very young age, she learned to hone her peculiarity as a student under Miss
Avocet. Miss Peregrine's loop is located on the fictional island of Cairnholm, Wales, on September 3,
1940, though it's actually September 2 for the first few hours.
 Esmerelda Avocet — Miss Avocet is an elderly and wise woman from the mid-Victorian period in
England. Having taught most notable ymbrynes to master their craft, she is regarded as near-royalty. Her
loop is in Derbyshire on July 15, 1867, but it was invaded by wights and hollowgast, forcing her to flee to
Miss Peregrine's loop.
 Miss Nightjar — Miss Nightjar takes in difficult cases of peculiars. One such case being Miss
Peregrine's former ward, Charlotte. Miss Nightjar's loop is in Swansea, Wales on April 3, 1901 and is co-
run by Miss Thrush.
 Miss Finch — Miss Finch has an aunt who is also an ymbryne but prefers to stay in finch form. Their
loop is based in London, but the date is not stated.
 Millicent Thrush — Miss Thrush has a loop in London and is headmistress of a children's home there
but also co-runs Miss Nightjar's special-care home.
 Miss Kestrel — Possibly a rather historical ymbryne. Enoch mentions an old story of her being injured in
a road accident. The incident is said to have trapped her in the form of a kestrel for an entire week,
leading to the collapse of her loop before she healed. Location and date are not stated.
 Balenciaga Wren — Miss Wren is the headmistress of a menagerie for peculiar animals. Her loop is
based in mainland Wales in a much older, unknown time.
 Miss Gannett — Miss Gannett has a loop in Ireland, in June of 1770.
 Miss Treecreeper — Miss Peregrine mentions her name but doesn't remember where or when her loop is
based.
 Non-Peculiar
 Franklin Portman — Jacob's father, Frank, is an unemployed, amateur ornithologist who volunteers at a
bird rescue and likes to pass it off as his job. He also spends much of his time writing manuscripts for
nature books, though he's never completed one, giving up on his every project midway. His whole life,
he's had a rather rough relationship with his own father, Abraham, as he was almost never around. Frank
is very protective of his son, but understands his need for room to grow and learn on his own.
 Maryann Portman — Maryann is Jacob's obsessively materialistic mother and Franklin's wife. She
comes from a wealthy family that owns a drugstore company with one hundred and fifteen branches
across the state of Florida. While she loves her son and is immensely protective of him, she tends to be
more concerned about public image and what people think of them.
 Dr. Golan — Dr. Golan was one of the many peculiars who supported and participated in the disastrous
experiment that created the hollowgast. He is among those who have reached the state of being a wight, a
term he disowns as "their word." He is a licensed psychiatrist and, in order to uncover information on
Miss Peregrine's loop, has been stalking the Portman family for years under many a guise including their
yard man, Jacob's middle school bus driver Mr. Barron, and ultimately himself when Jacob begins seeing
him for therapy.
 Malthus — Malthus was once a peculiar and an old friend of Dr. Golan's who also joined the rebellion
against the ymbrynes, dying by the results of the experiment designed to overthrow them and reemerging
a hollow. He now travels with the restored Golan, devouring peculiars as they discover time loops. For
reasons not specified, Golan allowed him to kill Abraham before they could learn the location of Miss
Peregrine's loop. From then on, Malthus haunted Jacob, keeping a vigil on him day and night.
 Martin Pagett — Martin is a part-time but knowledgeable and well-spoken curator of a small museum
on Cairnholm, though due to the island's sparse renown and low tourist appeal, they rarely see any
patronage. He strikes up a bond with Jacob, giving him a rundown of Cairnholm's history and assisting
him in learning how the children's home was destroyed. Martin plays an unwitting but vital role in
discovering Malthus and Dr. Golan on the island.
 Oggie — Oggie is Martin's uncle, whom he introduces to Jacob in order to help him learn more about the
fallen children's home. Elderly and gruff but still sharp of wit, Oggie recalls the strange children and their
reclusive headmistress and recounts the bombing in detail, occasionally veering off into rants on the
weather and politics. Though he longed to fight for his country, he was too young then and merely
watched it all take place.
 Susan Portman — Susan is Frank's younger sister and Jacob's aunt. While going through Abraham's
possessions with them after his passing, she found his copy of The Selected Works of Ralph Waldo
Emersonand that he had written a brief well-wish to Jacob on the title page. When she gives it to him on
his birthday, Jacob unwittingly discovers a letter from Miss Peregrine when it fell out from between the
pages.
 Ricky — Ricky is described as Jacob's best and only friend, though their relationship is more of a deal for
personal benefit: in exchange for Jacob helping Ricky with his homework, Ricky acts as Jacob's
bodyguard at school.