Book #33: Wonderstruck

Wonderstruck is the forthcoming prose/illustrated story masterpiece from Brian Selznick, author/illustrator of The Invention of Hugo Cabret fame. I was lucky enough to get my hands on an advance copy at the ALA Annual Conference a week ago (oh, my, the exhibits hall!), and it was the first of the stack of books I brought home from there than I read.

Wonderstruck is a story set around two main characters in two different settings: Ben, a young orphaned boy living in 1970s Minnesota, has his story told through prose; and Rose, a young deaf girl living in 1920s New Jersey has her story told through pictures. Despite the distance between the two main characters both geographical and chronologically, their stories merge together in a very Selznick fashion. I loved how, as the end of the book neared, the prose and pictures interacted so beautifully. A lot of people think this words-and-illustrations storytelling technique odd, but Selznick is truly a master of it.

I'd suggest this book to anyone who enjoys Selznick's work, to readers interested in stories told in varied modes, and to anyone with a love for that spark of wonder so treasured in childhood.