Singular strengths
Nothing normal about Ransom Riggs’ phenomenal success, writes Dionne Christian
Ransom Riggs wants to set the record straight: he’s not using a pseudonym. The subject of his name comes up about 15 minutes into a telephone chat about his fourth book, A Map of Days. It’s the start of a new chapter in Riggs’ wildly successful books about time-travelling “peculiar” Jacob Portman, his equally peculiar friends, including close friend Emma, and their guardian, Miss Peregrine.
What advice does the Maryland-born, Florida-raised 39-year-old author have for kids who think they might be a little peculiar?
“Take heart. There are others like you and the things about you that you feel make you different, that are difficult to bear and make it hard to fit in as a young person, will become strengths as you get older.
“Take my name. It became one that no one else had and it made me feel special. So many things about being an unusual young person become the best things about you when you’re older and who wants to swim in a sea of sameness, anyway?”
Indeed, Ransom Riggs is a name entirely suited to an author behind one of the most inventive series of young adult books of recent years, the Miss Peregrine’s Peculiar Children stories. The first three concentrated on Jacob’s discovery that he is a “peculiar” and helping his friends defeat the enemies of their world.
A Map of Days finds Jacob back in Florida — accompanied by Miss Peregrine, Emma and their friends. They’re all trying to fit in but “normalling lessons” are soon interrupted by the discovery of a subterranean bunker that belonged to Jacob’s grandfather, Abe.
The book signals the start of a new trilogy — because, says Riggs, there’s still plenty in the peculiar world he wants to explore — but read the blurb and it’s not hard to see the subtext: “Now, the stakes are higher than ever as Jacob and his friends are thrust into the untamed landscape of American peculiardom — a world with few ymbrynes or rules — that none of them understand. New wonders and dangers await.” “I wanted to talk about how peculiar my life and times are,” he says.
“At its core, it’s a story about refugees and marginalised people who are so feared by ‘normal’ society that they have to hide . . .”
While the here and now might be influencing the direction Riggs is taking his work in, the stories have their roots back in his own childhood when he moved from his family’s 200-year-old home in Maryland to help his grandmother, Florence. A bookworm, she encouraged her grandson to read and he quickly discovered the joy of delving into other worlds through the works of C.S. Lewis, a little Tolkien, Frances Hodgson Burnett’s The Secret Garden — “I read the covers off that one” — and, as he got older, Stephen King.
“I grew up wishing for seasons, reading a lot of Victoriana ghost stories and looking for the darker side or the magic that might lead into another world.”
Florence also liked taking her grandson to yard sales, where he stumbled across another of the great loves of his young life: collections of photographs that capture everyday life and common things as subjects — snapshots of families on holiday, at celebrations and gatherings or even in school.
Riggs also believes one of the most fortunate and formative experiences of his life was that he “lucked into” a good school district, where he could attend the Pine View School for the Gifted and find other like-minded souls.
Armed with degrees in English literature and film, Riggs tried to make a career as a film-maker but it was writing that ended up paying the bills. When he suggested he write a picture book using some of the old photos he’d collected, his publisher told him to use the photos as the jumping-off point for a book and Miss Peregrine was created.
“When I was young, it was harder to find ‘your crowd’ and I do think if you’re a little off the mainstream, it’s important to feel encouraged to be who you are. I know there’s a lot of negative stuff written about the internet, but I think it has made it easier to find your tribe.
“That said, I do feel like I meet a lot of kids today who are more comfortable about being who they are and that’s encouraging.”