Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs

Publisher's Blurb:
A mysterious island. An abandoned orphanage. And a strange collection of very curious photographs.
It all waits to be discovered in Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, an unforgettable novel that mixes fiction and photography in a thrilling reading experience. As our story opens, a horrific family tragedy sets sixteen-year-old Jacob journeying to a remote island off the coast of Wales, where he discovers the crumbling ruins of Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children. As Jacob explores its abandoned bedrooms and hallways, it becomes clear that the children who once lived here—one of whom was his own grandfather— were more than just peculiar. They may have been dangerous. They may have been quarantined on a desolate island for good reason. And somehow—impossible though it seems—they may still be alive.
A spine-tingling fantasy illustrated with haunting vintage photography, Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children will delight adults, teens, and anyone who relishes an adventure in the shadows.

Review:
Every so often a book comes along that is pure magic, and "Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children" is one such book.  Part fantasy, part adventure, part eccentric photo collection, this is a story that will enthrall and enchant teens and adults.
Jacob is the sixteen year old narrator, and he is intelligent, funny, realistic and perceptive.  He is very close to his secretive grandfather, who used to tell him fantastic tales of his youth, and the children's home where he grew up.  These tales were often accompanied by odd old photographs, and these same photographs are included in the book, creating a rich visual record that transports the reader on a magical journey.  Jacob believed in the possibility of a magical life because of his grandfather and the tales he told.  But as Jacob grows older, he stops believing in magic as his grandfather begins to age and show signs of senility.
After the shocking murder of his grandfather, Jacob's life is turned upside down.  He sees something unbelievable, something that lends credence to his grandfather's stories, and his parents and the police question his mental stability.  In an attempt to help Jacob reconcile what is real from the fantastic, his father takes him to Cairnholm Island off the coast of Wales.  Once on the island, Jacob feels the impact of being in a place seemingly out of time and separate from the world.  The island seems to hide secrets of its own, its fog providing a curtain between the present and past.  But hoping the reality of his grandfather's childhood will allow Jacob to heal, his father permits Jacob to explore the island and the old Home.  But what Jacob finds forces him to believe in the magical and fantastic once again.  Soon events take a darker turn, as Jacob learns he is being hunted by evil beings for shocking reasons. 
As Jacob says in the story, "Sometimes you just have to go through a door", and this would make a great theme for the book.  Jacob must make frequent leaps of faith in order to decipher his grandfather's cryptic final words.  He must find the inner strength to deny the opinions of his parents, the police, and his psychiatrist and follow his heart and his instincts.  Taking these chances is like going through a door, never knowing what is on the other side.  But every door he goes through brings him closer to his grandfather's secrets, and these secrets come alive (sometimes literally) as Jacob continues his quest. 
Enthralling, magical, spooky and wonderful, "Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children" is one of the most original and captivating books I have read in a very long time. Read this!!