Book Review: Wonderstruck by Brian Selznick

About:
Wonderstruck by Brian Selznick is an award winning fictional book, aimed at the YA crowd. As with other books of Mr. Selznick’s this book also merges words and pictures to build a coherent, simple story.

• 640 pages
• Publisher: Scholastic Press
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0545027896

My rating for Wonderstruck –  5
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More Books by Brian Selznick

Thoughts:
Our daughter, a fan of the author, took out Wonderstruck by Brian Selznick from the local library as her summer reading. We always try to read the books our kids are reading so we’ll be able to discuss it with them and check out if they understood what they read, themes and concepts.
As an added bonus, we can tell if they actually read the book.
Also, I really enjoyed Mr. Selznick’s previous books and was looking forward to read another one.

This book is a bit different than the others I read, instead of the pictures and text telling the same storyline together, this time the text and pictures follow two different stories, in two different timelines, until they eventually meet.

This book is simply enchanting, a straightforward modern day fairy tale with an impossible plot. The cinematic illustrations, which tell a story all by themselves, are magnificent and easy to follow.

The novel touches on many subjects, from the history of museums, a bit of cinematic history (something, it seems Mr. Selznick has a passion for – and who can blame him), the deaf culture in the USE and more. Many subjects but they are all arranged thoughtfully and the progression seems to be logical.

I finished this book (all 630 pages), in one evening, I just wanted to know what happens and it is a quick read.

Synopsis:
Ben lives in rural Wisconsin, 1977, when his mother dies he find evidence of a father he never knew in New York City and decides to run away. Ben, however, is newly deaf and has a difficult time understanding what people want from him.

Rose, a deaf girl in Hoboken, NJ 1927, is dreaming of going to New York City, which she can see out her window every day. Rose is trying to get to the big city, to meet a movie star she adores.

Buy Wonderstruck from Amazon.com*
More Books by Brian Selznick

Zohar — Man of la Book
Dis­claimer: I got this book from the local library
*Ama­zon links point to an affil­i­ate account