SUBSCRIBE
SUBSCRIBE
SLJ Blog Network +
  • 100 Scope Notes
  • A Fuse #8 Production
  • Good Comics for Kids
  • Heavy Medal: A Mock Newbery Blog
  • Teen Librarian Toolbox
  • The Classroom Bookshelf
  • The Yarn
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • About TLT
  • Reviews
    • Book Reviews
    • A to Z Book Lists
    • Book Review Policy
  • Teen Issues
  • Middle Grade Mondays
  • Programs
    • TPiB
    • Tech Talk
  • Professional
    • Teen Services 101
    • Things We Didn’t Learn in Library School
  • MakerSpace
  • Projects
    • #SVYALit
    • #FSYALit
    • #MHYALit
    • #Poverty in YA Lit

April 28, 2012 by Karen Jensen, MLS

Book Review: The Peculiars by Maureen Doyle McQuerry

April 28, 2012 by Karen Jensen, MLS   Leave a Comment

There are tales that in the outlying region of Scree there live a brand of people known as Peculiars.  These peculiars have many bizarre physical characteristics which make them unacceptable to modern society.  They have been shunned and labelled criminals.  And if tales are to be believed, Lena’s father is one of them.  In fact, Lena has some traits of her own that suggest she may be as well.

On her 18th birthday Lena receives a letter and some money and decides that she will travel to the land of Scree to find answers for herself.  She leaves the only home she has ever known and boards a train that will lead her on more adventures than she has ever known.  In her adventures she meets Jimson, a mysterious marshal who may know – and hate – her father, the flamboyant Mr. Beasley and his crazy concoctions.  And she meets many people with secrets like her own.

SCROLL TO KEEP READING THIS POST

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

After a train robbery leaves her with little funds, Lena spends time in the care of Mr. Beasley, having been asked to spy on him by the marshal and learns that the people around her are often not whom they see.  Her spying puts events into motion that causes many, including Lena, to flee in an amazing flying contraption to the land of Scree where the real adventure begins.

The Peculiars should be an adventurous addition to the steampunk genre, but there is little steam and the adventure stalls when Lena ends up in a town outside the forbidden lands trying to find a guide.  Part of the problem is that it is clear to the reader what is going on in around Lena, even when she is not.  There is a certain amount of naivete that makes sense on Lena’s part; she has, after all, spent a great deal of her life hiding as much as possible because of those ailments that may make her peculiar.  But at the end of the day, the plot trapping knock you over the head with an anvil, even if Lena isn’t seeing the clues.

It is Lena’s naivete that sets that last third of the book in motion and the action finally picks up; but to be honest, before I got to this part I had set the book down and read three other books only to come back to it out of sheer will and determination.  I am not sure that teen readers have that driving principal to finish books that don’t hold their attention.  If they do, readers will actually be rewarded in the last 3rd of the book as the cast set out into Scree – finally – in a literal flight for their lives.  The Peculiars is clearly set up for a sequel and as Lena finally starts showing some growth readers may turn in for part two.  But, to be honest, I doubt that I will.

To be fair, my co-worker borrowed my ARC, which I picked up at ALA, and she genuinely liked this book.  The actual print cover is a fantastic improvement over the ARC cover and steampunk is definitely popular this year, so you may want to give this title a try.  One definite thing that it has in its favor is that it is a much more gentler read than a lot of the YA titles I have been reading lately; it has a lightness about it in tone, theme, language and sexual tension.  It will definitely work for younger YA readers as an introduction to the genre.  3 out of 5 stars. (Karen)

Filed under: Book Reviews

SHARE:

Read or Leave Comments

About Karen Jensen, MLS

Karen Jensen has been a Teen Services Librarian for almost 30 years. She created TLT in 2011 and is the co-editor of The Whole Library Handbook: Teen Services with Heather Booth (ALA Editions, 2014).

ADVERTISEMENT

Related Posts

May 2023

Book Review: Pardalita by Joana Estrela, Lyn Miller-Lachmann (Translator)

by Karen Jensen, MLS

May 2023

Book Review: Parachute Kids by Betty C. Tang

by Karen Jensen, MLS

May 2023

Book Review: Finally Seen by Kelly Yang

by Karen Jensen, MLS

May 2023

Book Review: I Have Something to Tell You--For Young Adults: A Memoir by Chasten Buttigieg

by Karen Jensen, MLS

May 2023

Book Review: America Redux: Visual Stories from Our Dynamic History by Ariel Aberg-Riger

by Karen Jensen, MLS

ADVERTISEMENT

SLJ Blog Network

100 Scope Notes

One Star Review, Guess Who? (#187)

by Travis Jonker

A Fuse #8 Production

Ellen Myrick Publisher Preview: Fall 2023/Winter 2024 (Part Five – Berbay, Cicada & Creston Books)

by Betsy Bird

Good Comics for Kids

Recent Graphic Novel Deals, Late May 2023 | News

by Johanna

Heavy Medal

And now there are 38: May Heavy Medal Mock Newbery Suggestions

by Emily Mroczek-Bayci

Teen Librarian Toolbox

A Case for Fun and Games, a guest post by Andrew Auseon

by Amanda MacGregor

The Classroom Bookshelf

The Classroom Bookshelf is Moving

by Erika Thulin Dawes

The Yarn

Trying Something New: SPEED ROUND w/ Marla Frazee, Doug Salati, Dan Santat, and Amina Luqman-Dawson

by Travis Jonker

ADVERTISEMENT

Related Articles on SLJ

Ask Jason Reynolds Anything!

Colorism, Internalized Racism, and the Power of Privilege: Malla Nunn Discusses "When the Ground Is Hard"

Debut YA Author Crafts a Fantasy Western That Empowers Readers

Resistance, Radical Empathy, and the Responsibilities of Privilege: An Interview with Tehlor Kay Mejia on “We Set the Dark on Fire”

Books Restricted, Removed in MS, IA, OR, and FL Districts; 'Out of Darkness' Stays at NC High School | Censorship Roundup

Commenting for all posts is disabled after 30 days.

ADVERTISEMENT

Archives

Follow This Blog

Enter your email address below to receive notifications of new blog posts by email.

This coverage is free for all visitors. Your support makes this possible.

This coverage is free for all visitors. Your support makes this possible.

Primary Sidebar

  • News & Features
  • Reviews+
  • Technology
  • School Libraries
  • Public Libraries
  • Age Level
  • Ideas
  • Blogs
  • Classroom
  • Diversity
  • People
  • Job Zone

Reviews+

  • Book Lists
  • Best Books
  • Media
  • Reference
  • Series Made Simple
  • Tech
  • Review for SLJ
  • Review Submissions

SLJ Blog Network

  • 100 Scope Notes
  • A Fuse #8 Production
  • Good Comics for Kids
  • Heavy Medal
  • Neverending Search
  • Teen Librarian Toolbox
  • The Classroom Bookshelf
  • The Yarn

Resources

  • 2022 Youth Media Awards
  • The Newbery at 100: SLJ Celebrates the 100th Anniversary of the Award
  • Special Report | School Libraries 2021
  • Summer Reading 2021
  • Series Made Simple Spring 2021
  • SLJ Diverse Books Survey
  • Summer Programming Survey
  • Research
  • White Papers / Case Studies
  • School Librarian of the Year
  • Mathical Book Prize Collection Development Awards
  • Librarian/Teacher Collaboration Award

Events & PD

  • In-Person Events
  • Online Courses
  • Virtual Events
  • Webcasts
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Advertise
  • Subscribe
  • Media Inquiries
  • Newsletter Sign Up
  • Content Submissions
  • Data Privacy
  • Terms of Use
  • Terms of Sale
  • FAQs
  • Diversity Policy
  • Careers at MSI


COPYRIGHT © 2023


COPYRIGHT © 2023