Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs

★★★★★

"I turned to the window and gazed out in wonder.  The yard was full of children, almost all of whom I recognized from yellowed photographs.  Some lazed under shade threes; others tossed a ball and chased one another past flowerbeds exploding with color.  It was exactly the paradise my grandfather had described.  this was the enchanted island; these were the magical children.  If I was dreaming, I no longer wanted to wake up or at least not anytime soon."

"I used to dream about escaping my ordinary life, but my life was never ordinary.  I had simply failed to notice how extraordinary it was.  Likewise, I never imagined that home might be something I would miss."

This book was #6 on my top ten list of 2013.