Ransom Riggs author page

Ransom Riggs biography

Ransom Riggs is an American author best known for his young adult fantasy series, Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children. Born on February 3, 1979, in Maryland, he grew up in Florida and attended Pine View School for the Gifted. Riggs earned a degree in English literature from Kenyon College and later completed a Master of Fine Arts in film at the University of Southern California.

Before his debut novel, Riggs wrote The Sherlock Holmes Handbook (2009) as a tie-in to the 2009 film Sherlock Holmes. He also contributed to Mental Floss and created short films for the Internet. His interest in vernacular photography led him to collect vintage photographs, which inspired the narrative for Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, published by Quirk Books in 2011. The novel became a New York Times bestseller and was adapted into a film directed by Tim Burton, released in 2016.

Riggs expanded the series with sequels: Hollow City (2014), Library of Souls (2015), A Map of Days (2018), The Conference of the Birds (2020), and The Desolations of Devil’s Acre (2021). He also authored companion books, including Tales of the Peculiar (2016) and Miss Peregrine’s Museum of Wonders (2022). In addition, Riggs published Talking Pictures (2012), a nonfiction work featuring found photographs, and the graphic novel adaptations of his series with illustrator Cassandra Jean.

In 2024, Riggs released Sunderworld, Vol. I: The Extraordinary Disappointments of Leopold Berry, the first installment in a new series, with Sunderworld, Vol. II: The Unfortunate Responsibilities of Leopold Berry scheduled for publication in 2025.