Brian Selznick

Wonderstruck

Sarah Sammis

Wonderstruckis Brian Selznick's second graphic novel hybrid. It uses gorgeous full spread illustrations to tell the 1927 story of Rose, a girl who wants to get to New York City, and chapters to tell the 1977 story of Ben who is also on a journey to New York. Like The Invention of Hugo Cabret, Wonderstruck is a thick but quick read.

The book opens with Ben's recurring nightmare of wolves chasing him over the frozen lake. It has been plaguing him since his mother's recent death. While most of Ben's story is told in text, this opening nightmare is done in Selznick's dramatic black and white drawings.

Most of his almost cinematic illustrations tell Roses's story. Quickly we learn that she is fascinated by the Manhattan skyline and has created a miniature version of it out of paper. Second we learn that she is a fan of a certain silent movie star at the time that silent movies are being phased out in favor of sound.

Mixed into all of this is a brief history of Deaf culture, the New York World Fair, silent movies, and museums. It's jumbled but logical. It's also heart breaking and charming.

There are nods to a number of books in Wonderstruck. The one that jumped out most for me was Hands of My Father by Myron Uhlberg. The full list of books that inspired or aided in the creation of Wonderstruck are included in the afterword.

Recommended by @DeandraBookLove

Christine

holiday reread: I’ve always been drawn to New York and it’s funny to see how one of my favorite books from my childhood only fuels that drive.

Good plot just dragged out abit near the end 

Corey price

Rich

Amazing! That is all I can say! I am amazed by what Brian Selznick did with the pictures and it was fabulously written. It took me to a different world. It is definetely one of the best books I have read!

Lauren hughes 

I loved this book and how it incorporated deaf culture into the story!

Callie Anna

I am in love. I want to meet Brian Selznick so badly. He treasures and educates people about the same things that I hold dear.

Amanda Kordeliski

This book had huge hype at ALA and it was a virtual stampede of librarians when scholastic started handing out ARCs. Wonderstruck tells two parallel stories set 50 years apart, one of Rose in 1920's New York City and the other of Ben in 1970's Minnesota. Rose's story is told through pictures, Ben through words. I enjoyed the book and see it as a great bridge between graphic novels and both fiction and nonfiction books. Great nonfiction tie-ins with wolves, birth of the "talkie" movie, sign language, American Museum of Natural History and the blackouts in New York City in the last 1970's. 

I liked the way the two stories connected and became one. Fans of Selznick's Hugo Cabret will like this one as well.

Ana Cob

jordan Ariel johnson

i read this because the movie come out this year it a good book to learn about deaf and asl it a big book i read the whole thing in about 4 hours i am a fast reader will read again soon

Destiny J Tamayo

Jelke Lenaerts

A beautiful story with beautiful illustrations, just like I’m used to from Brian Selznick.

Annelies Van Rossen

Pro: deaf culture, dealing with loss, friendship and relationships

Con: the storyline of Rose wasn't always clear to me

Wonderstruck is a book with an amazing formula. It is very interesting to read one storyline and to see another one. I enjoyed how they came together. However, in the beginning the image storyline interrupted the other one too much for me. I love how reading and musea are presented like something magical. The characters are very charming and even though they deal with tough situations, they remain positive. This is also the first book I read with a deaf main character, I'm happy with the representation.

This review was originally posted on Caity Reads.

Wonderstruck is a wonderful story about two different characters, Ben and Rose. Ben’s story is told through words and Rose’s story is told through pictures. In the third part of the book, their stories intertwine beautifully and surprisingly. Wonderstruck is different from The Invention of Hugo Cabret in the aspect that instead of the story being told by both the words and the pictures, they each tell a separate story (until they intertwine of course). It’s definitely a very different writing style and I love it. The stories are told 50 years apart, Rose’s story in 1927 and Ben’s in 1977.

Ben is a young boy whose mother has just passed away. He lives with his aunt and uncle and two cousins, only 83 steps away from the house he shared with his mother. Ben was born deaf in one ear, and his cousin Robby often makes fun of him for it. One night he sees a light on in their house and sneaks out to investigate it. It turns out to only be his cousin, but he decides to stay and spend some time in his mother’s house. He never knew his father and has always wondered about him. A book and a bookmark lead him to a clue, and a phone number. This is all taking place in the middle of a storm. He decides to pick up the phone and try to call the number, hoping it will lead him to his father. The house is then struck by lightning and he ends up in the hospital, and also ends up completely deaf. It is a couple weeks later that he runs away to New York City to find his father.

Rose is a young girl who is deaf. She lives with her father and you get the sense that she doesn’t really feel like she belongs there or that she is accepted. You also see that she documents the life of one actress. Soon after the story starts, there is an ad in the newspaper about the actress coming to perform in New York City. Rose lives not very far away, in New Jersey and really wants to go, so she runs away to search for the actress. When she arrives in New York, she finds the actress. You learn about why she is so obsessed with the actress and also get to meet her brother, Walter.

This is an amazing story about two young deaf kids who are facing very different problems in a world where they are not entirely accepted by the people around them, until they run away. The way their stories connect in New York is amazing and definitely took me by surprise. Again, the illustrations in this book were fabulous, the characters and story were both wonderful, and I actually enjoyed this book more than I did The Invention of Hugo Cabret.

I would definitely recommend this to anyone. Again, this is another Brian Selznick book that I will be shoving into the hands of my future kids.

Christina Hufford

I read this in a day laid up in bed. Wonderful story. I love how the pictures tell one story and the words another. The last hundred pages or so, when those two stories came together, was nothing short of magical.

Wonderstruck

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