Hollow City

Hollow City

Imagine being forced to abandon your family, home, friends and everything you know and love because you have a peculiar power that enables you to see invisible man-eating monsters that would be a danger to you and everyone around you. This frightening scenario was reality for Jacob Portman, the peculiar main protagonist in the book Hollow City by Ransom Riggs. For years Jacob had been misunderstood, being told by his skeptical family members that these monsters named hollowgasts he was seeing was just a dark fantasy, until his grandfather was brutally murdered by one of the creatures. After the tragic death, Jacob felt he needed to carry out his grandfather 's last request: traveling to Cairnholm Island and alert a ymbryne and

For example, on page 83, the author included a picture of Addison, the peculiar, sophisticated talking dog that assisted the children and directed them to a place where they could find a cure for Miss Peregrine, save the other captured ymbrynes, and defeat the deadly hollowgasts. Addison explained that his ymbryne, Miss Wren, was currently traveling to find the remaining uncaptured peculiar caretakers. Following the directions from Addison, the gang found themselves rushing to catch a train to London while fleeing from hollowgasts. When they reached a spot where they felt they were out of danger, on page 246, they met two more peculiar children named Joel and Peter who are called echolocators and always talk at the same time. The photograph the author included showed that the two new characters were twins and appeared to be serious and almost ghost like. These are two of many photographs throughout the novel that give the reader an improved understanding, and help the reader visualize the features of of each new character

An example of this is on page 243 when the characters were searching for Miss Wren and they came across an old shed filled with human bones. The eerie photograph creates a mood for the scene and gives the reader an anxious feeling, fearing what will happen to the characters during this frightening part in the book. Most of the pictures shown in the novel give the reader an uneasy, curious feeling, but an example of a slightly more upbeat mood was on page 150. The photograph is of a group of amicable gypsies that hid Jacob and his friends from the Wights, evolved more dangerous hollowgasts, when they were chasing the children. The picture included makes the reader feel like the main characters are safe and temporarily protected from harm. Using the photographs to develop a mood for the scene is another unique craft technique the author used often in the novel that helps readers better comprehend the