Hi Guys!

Long time no post. I am here to do a little shout out to one of the series that got Maddie.TV on the Book Blog path: Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children. The publisher, Quirk Books, is one of my favorites, with such an incredible array of titles and authors. I am always excited for an opportunity to highlight them.

I came across Miss Peregrine’s way back in 2011, right after it had come out, and it was highlighted in my library’s teen collection. I remember being very hesitant to read it, as the cover made me think it might be too far on the horror side of things for my taste, but I also loved the haunted aesthetic, so my mom convinced me to give it a go…Something she has never let me forget, hah!

I totally fell in love. I was already fascinated by antiques with “lost histories,” things that you could tell had a lot of meaning previously, but in an unknown way. The use of the mysterious, haunting photos to tie together a narrative was made for me. It hit me right in my antique, goth heart strings. I was looking through the photos at second hand stores in a totally different way, always looking for Ransom Riggs-esque photos to add to my collection.

And, unsurprisingly, the series totally took off. I have had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Riggs (and his lovely and equally YA influential wife, Tahereh Mafi) at two book signings now, and he remains one of the most delightful, down to authors I have had the pleasure of getting to meet. His respect for the integrity of the antiques he uses to tell his stories is ever evident. He is a real master of his craft, and deserves all the wonderful success he has been met with. I mean, Tim Burton produced the film! How cool is that! I remember when I gave the book away for World Book Day in 2014 I believe, and I sold it to the students by saying it was the most Tim Burton-ish book I had ever read. 

All of this to say, if you haven’t already checked out Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children…Where have you been?! Get on it, buddy!

As always, thank you all for your continued support. I hope that you all are staying as safe, healthy, and sane as possible with the current state of the world, and that you find solace and comfort in a good story every once in a while. I hope to get back on here more often, now that things are getting (a little…?) more predictable from day to day.

Peace out!

Maddie