I guess every now and again I get into a mood to read something completely different from my normal reads. That explains what happened when I bought Riggs' book at Barnes and Noble a few weeks ago. I was drawn to the book by its cover--it shows an old photograph of a little girl, dressed like a flapper girl from the 20's, levitating. Who wouldn't be intrigued enough to read a book with a cover like that? I was hooked from the first page to the last, as I read this story that is a little bit mystery, a little bit horror, a little bit history, a little bit romance, a lot of fantasy, and in some ways similar to Harry Potter.
I am struggling to write this entry because even if I give a summary, I am afraid that I am going to ruin something. I guess if you are at all interested in the book, and you want to hear Jacob's story, or just want to read a book that will not bore you for a second (and you are into the fantasy/time-traveling genre), look it up on BN.com or Amazon and read the publisher's synopsis, who was written by a person trained not to ruin the plot for readers. That's not me.
What I will tell you is this...the book includes 44 real photographs as part of the story. These pictures were borrowed from collectors who scour flea markets and the like searching for unique pictures. They are are old photos, black and white, and they are the coolest things I have ever seen. At first you might think they are computer generated for the visual effect for the book, but they are not. They are real and each photo is documented in the back of the book. Riggs took these pictures and built a story around them, or perhaps the idea for the book came first and then he searched for just the right pictures to compliment the story. Either way, what a clever and unique way to craft a novel. In the words of one of my fave Harry Potter characters, "That was bloody brilliant." This is also Riggs' first novel, and I think it is an amazing, totally out of the box, first work.
Emily wants to read it. She's really into Fantasy and "normal" stories rarely hold her attention. She's excited to read a book about "peculiar children" and I am hoping that this might just re-energize her excitement levels about reading. With that said, I wondered at times who the intended audience was--it's not a children's story...it's just too scary in some places. But, I don't think it was made for adults either, although I think adults would appreciate the story. That leaves the 'tweens and the teens, and I think they'd love it, after they learn about WW2. (It just occurred to me to follow my own advice so I checked Amazon and the age range for the book is 14 and up. I guess I'm the "up.")
So, I'm now off to hand over this unique find to Emily and I am going to curl up on my sofa, watch it snow, and read Safe Haven (again) by Nicholas Sparks. I read it in January of 2010 and can't recall a bit of the book, even after reading my book journal. So, I figure I better re-read it before going to see the movie next month. Which I feel certain will make me cry, as all of his movies do.
Happy reading everyone!
:) Dodie
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