A Map of Days by Ransom Riggs
A MAP OF DAYS
Written by Ransom Riggs
(Dutton BYR; $22.99, Ages 12 and up)
An Amazon Best Book of October 2018
The much-awaited fourth Ransom Riggs YA novel in the Miss Peregrine’s Peculiar Children series, A Map of Days, picks up where book three ended, in current-time Florida. Immediately we are reintroduced to Jacob Portman, Miss Peregrine, and her wards. Yet, for those of us who read the trilogy, then saw Tim Burton’s 2016 feature film adaptation, we need to reorient ourselves. In the film, Grandfather Abe ends up alive and the two main female characters’ powers are reversed. Remember, it’s Emma who can make fire with her hands and Olive who’s lighter than air. The clan arrives to stop Jacob’s family from committing him to a mental-health institution.
I like that A Map of Days explores the confusing romance between teen-aged Jacob and Emma (who was Jacob’s grandfather’s time-arrested ex-girlfriend). What a bizarre love triangle with Emma trapped in a loop for fifty years, pining after Abe as he traveled the globe, aged, and had a family of his own. Will Jacob—even with powers similar to Abe’s—ever fill his grandfather’s hollowgast monster-hunting shoes?
Interior image from A Map of Days written by Ransom Riggs, Dutton BYR ©2018.
The book’s title refers to the temporal atlas that pinpoints the location of time loops in the peculiar (supernormal) world. In the US, these loops are largely unmapped and unknown. Finding or creating an American Map of Days is a priority for Miss Peregrine and the other ymbryines (shape-shifting matriarchs of peculiardom) because the country is fractured by feuding clans and lacks centralized peculiar authority. Jacob, after his prior successes, feels ready to take on an important role, not fully understanding the awaiting dangers—and that’s where this adventure leads.
Fans will enjoy the array of vintage photos scattered throughout the novel and should find the addition of full-color photos appealing as well. With over ten million copies in print of the first three novels, the popularity of this series cannot be overstated. Collectively, the books have spent 100 weeks on the New York Times best-seller list.
Here’s a link to A Map of Days Book Tour.
Start reading A Map of Days here.
See a trailer here.
- Reviewed by Christine Van Zandt
Writer, editor, and owner of Write for Success www.Write-for-Success.com
@WFSediting, Christine@Write-for-Success.com
Punny, funny history of American English – An Inconvenient Alphabet by Beth Anderson
AN INCONVENIENT ALPHABET:
BEN FRANKLIN AND NOAH WEBSTER’S SPELLING REVOLUTION
Written by Beth Anderson
Illustrated by Elizabeth Baddeley
(Paula Wiseman Books; $17.99, Ages 4-8)
is reviewed today by Cathy Ballou Mealey.
Anderson’s debut picture book, AN INCONVENIENT ALPHABET, will resonate with young readers who are in the thick of mastering the spelling oddities of American English. While some may doubt they have anything in common with Noah Webster or Ben Franklin, Anderson makes a convincing case why the two revolutionaries should be lauded for efforts to unite a young America through common spelling and language conventions.
Writer and printer Benjamin Franklin was frustrated by inconsistent spelling. He tried to simplify the alphabet by removing extraneous letters, but his work did not catch on. Post-Revolution, Noah Webster was also vexed by grammar and pronunciation differences. His solution was the creation of a written guide to American English, but that also did not win public favor.
An Inconvenient Alphabet: Ben Franklin and Noah Webster’s Spelling Revolution written by Beth Anderson with illustrations by Elizabeth Baddeley, Paula Wiseman Books ©2018.
When Franklin and Webster finally met in Philadelphia, their shared interests in reading, writing, language and education sparked a new synergy between them. They agreed that “Using twenty-six letters to write forty-four sounds caused nothing but trouble.” Together they decided to devise a new alphabet in which letters matched sounds and sounds matched letters.
Franklin, the elder partner, left young Webster to the task of winning the hearts and minds of Americans to these spelling reforms. It was a long, uphill battle, even for these two accomplished and educated thinkers, to reach their ambitious goal. Yet Webster’s ultimate solution – a dictionary – was successfully published in 1806 with 37,000 entries, laying the groundwork for the spelling and grammar resources we use today.
An Inconvenient Alphabet: Ben Franklin and Noah Webster’s Spelling Revolution written by Beth Anderson with illustrations by Elizabeth Baddeley, Paula Wiseman Books ©2018.
Anderson’s illuminating text incorporates playful examples of inconvenient homonyms and confusing phonetic spellings that readers will appreciate. Baddeley cleverly energizes the subtle wordplay with colorful block letters that envelop and accost the main characters. Whimsical wallpaper, silly signage and quirky colonial architecture offer bold and brilliant punny details. In addition, charming dog and cat characters, explained in the postscript, provide lighthearted counterpoint to the “two men wearing tights and ponytails” throughout.
Thoroughly researched and delightfully presented, AN INCONVENIENT ALPHABET is a unique look at a new kind of “revolution” and a lively choice for its approachable introduction to the history of American English.
• Reviewed by Cathy Ballou Mealey
Find another #Epic18 review by Cathy here.
Where obtained: I reviewed either an advanced reader’s copy from the publisher or a library edition and received no other compensation. The opinions expressed here are my own.
