June's Grades 5-6 Book Club discussion was on Hollow City: The Second Novel of Miss Peregrine's Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs. Ben, Cam and Harry were present.
What did you think about the romance between Jacob and Emma? Okay and sweet? Or totally creepy, considering she was his grandfather’s girlfriend and is actually much older than Jacob?
-Emma is like she was in the Fountain of Youth but not really.
-She's a hag.
-She's a grandma hag.
-Every good book has romance.
-A lot of people don't like romance.
-She's a hag.
-She's a grandma hag.
-Every good book has romance.
-A lot of people don't like romance.
Which peculiarities do you think are most useful? Of all the ones in this book, which would you choose to have? Are there any that seem rather un-useful to you?
-The Clown. What is his power? I think that the most useful is Bronwyn's strength and the least useful is Horace, who sees the dreams. The Folding Man is pretty useless.
-Emma could drill a hole in a baseball and fill it with fire and gun powder to make a good weapon.
-I think the least useful is Horace's because you can't reinvent the future. Knowing the future isn't going to change anything. I would want the strength peculiarity and think it's most useful. You could hurt the hollowghasts.
-All of the peculiarities are so cool. Claire's mouth in the back of her head is pretty useless.
-Emma could drill a hole in a baseball and fill it with fire and gun powder to make a good weapon.
-I think the least useful is Horace's because you can't reinvent the future. Knowing the future isn't going to change anything. I would want the strength peculiarity and think it's most useful. You could hurt the hollowghasts.
-All of the peculiarities are so cool. Claire's mouth in the back of her head is pretty useless.
Were you surprised when the peregrine turned out to be someone other than Miss Peregrine? If not, what made you suspicious that it was someone else?
-I kind of expected that Miss Peregrine was possessed because she killed the pigeon. I thought it was Miss Peregrine but that something was wrong with her.
What did you think about the ending? How do you think Jacob’s newfound ability might play out in the next book?
-I think that he'll use it to kill a bunch of hollowghasts.
-He could use it for running away.
-He could use it for running away.
Did you think the use of old black and white photographs worked as well in Hollow City as it did in Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children?
-It wasn't as cool because it didn't go with the descriptions as well.
Do you think these books would appeal more to teenagers than adults or do they transcend the young adult genre?
-I think that the second book would appeal to older people because it wasn't as good.
-There's the cussing too.
-There was too much romance.
-I don't care about romance. I just want books with action.
-This book had more action.
-There's the cussing too.
-There was too much romance.
-I don't care about romance. I just want books with action.
-This book had more action.
Did you notice any apparent inconsistencies in the story? Discussing these can sometimes help to resolve them.
-The whole book was inconsistent.
-I could write this. This doesn't make any sense.
Do you have any predictions for what will happen in this series? Will you keep reading?
-I predict it will have a lot of romance. I will not read it.
-I predict that it will have a lot of adventure and 10% of romance.
-Consensus is that the book will not be read.
-I predict that it will have a lot of adventure and 10% of romance.
-Consensus is that the book will not be read.
Rate Hollow City on a scale of 1 to 5.
-4
-3 1/2
-2 1/2
-4
-3 1/2
-2 1/2
