Ranson Riggs
Here I present another selection from the young adult or children's section of the book store or library. There are some fun stories to be found there!
Within the pages of this story you will find many vintage photographs, such as the one on the cover of the book. I couldn't help but think as I read the story that the author must have come across this collection of photos and decided to create a story around them. At the end of the book there is a small blurb along with the photo credits and I do believe the story was indeed conceived while pondering the "photographic evidence."
Jacob is a young child taken with his grandfather's tales of his life in an idyllic, happy home for children where he was sent after his family perished in the war. The children were all "peculiar," each having some strange ability or characteristic. His grandfather shares strange photos of the odd children as he tells his stories.
As Jacob grows older he comes to realize his grandfather had been making up stories to entertain him as a child and he easily sees through the gimmicky photography. The days of boyhood fantasy are now behind him and he helplessly watches as his grandfather slowly loses his hold on reality.
When Jacob's grandfather dies a violent death, Jacob begins to feel his own grasp on reality is slipping. That is until he discovers all of his grandfather's stories are actually true and that he himself is an important ingredient in a story that continues on.
Because I don't want to issue a spoiler alert I'll leave the synopsis of the story at that. Ranson Riggs spins a tale where past and present come together and Jacob has to make the decision of his lifetime. And through it all we meet a cast of quirky characters that I found quite charming, and really not so odd. There will surely be a sequel to this book. I don't think the story can be left where it ended. I only hope we have more peculiar photos to go along with it.
I give this novel four shots of five.
No comments:
Post a Comment