A review by karenluvstoread
Wonderstruck by Brian Selznick

5.0

I am a huge fan of Selznick’s work. I absolutely loved The Invention of Hugo Cabret and The Marvels. So I was tickled to be able to finally buy a copy of Wonderstruck and read it. In Wonderstruck, the two main characters are Ben and Rose. Their stories start out in two different times: 1977 for Ben’s story and 1927 for Rose’s story. Ben’s story is told in words and Rose’s story is told in pictures for most of the book. 

Ben’s mom has passed away and he’s staying with relatives. He never knew his father. One night Ben finds a locket with a picture of who he thinks must be his father and that sets him on a journey to find his father. 

Rose has great interest in an actress whom she keeps a scrapbook of. Eventually, she runs away on a quest to find this actress and that sets her off on a journey as well. 

I can’t say much about either of these journeys, especially Rose’s, because it would give away points of the story. And I don’t want to give any spoilers. What I can tell you is that these two separate stories weave in and out and eventually merge. And at the point that they merge, the pictures and words merge as well. It was so brilliantly done! 

Selznick tells these stories in Wonderstruck in a heartfelt way and with much depth. One of the key elements the book explores is the deaf community and culture. In the Author’s note, Selznick says: 

“While I was working on The Invention of Hugo Cabret, I saw a documentary called Through Deaf Eyes, about the history of Deaf culture in America…I was especially fascinated by a section about cinema and the new technology of sound, which was introduced into the movies in 1927. Prior to this, both deaf and hearing populations could enjoy the cinema together. Sound movies, for the first time, excluded the deaf. That insight was the beginning of Rose’s story. The documentary also featured an interview with a young deaf man who was raised by hearing parents, as many deaf people are. It wasn’t until he went to college and met other deaf people that he felt he had really found his community. That fascinated me, and I became intrigued by the idea of looking for one’s culture outside of one’s biological family…Since I knew early on that both of my main characters would be deaf, I wanted to learn as much as possible about Deaf culture. I read books, conducted interviews, and had conversations with people who are deaf or who are experts on aspects of Deaf culture…” (p. 630, 632)

 
Selznick goes on to talk about all that in more detail. He also did quite a bit of research in different areas as well in order to tell these stories. As I was reading the book, I didn’t realize that the Ahnighito was a real thing or that Gunflint Lake was an actual place. So I looked them up and read more about them. Definitely make sure to read the Author’s Note so you can see all the research that went into this book!
 
There is a magical quality to this book, as there is to The Invention of Hugo Cabret and The Marvels. And I love that quality about them! Wonderstruck is beautifully and compassionately written. It is magical and mesmerizing and full of wonder. Also, be sure to read this in print because the illustrations are integral to the story. In fact, they tell parts of the story just as the illustrations do in The Invention of Hugo Cabret and The Marvels.