WONDERSTRUCK
by Brian Selznick Kids Reads Review:
________________________________________
Brian Selznick's THE INVENTION OF HUGO CABRET was a sensation when it was
first published in 2007. Selznick, who is best known for his illustrations,
crafted a book of 500+ pages whose story was told as much through its
pictures as through its verbal narrative. It was a critical hit and a
bestseller. When it won the Caldecott Medal, the choice was hugely
controversial, given that the award for the best illustrated book for
children is typically bestowed on a picture book. Now, Selznick follows up
that beloved novel with WONDERSTRUCK, an even more tightly crafted blend of
storytelling through words and pictures.
The wordless format of much of the book's story is especially appropriate,
given that the two main characters are both deaf and consequently have a
complicated relationship with language, especially of the spoken variety. We
first meet Ben, whose story is told through verbal narration. It's 1977, and
Ben has been living with his mother near Gunflint Lake in far northern
Minnesota. He's obsessed with visions of wolves, and with the impulse to
collect the small treasures he discovers during his explorations of the lake
and the forests around it. After his mother's death in a car accident,
though, Ben feels alone, even more so after a lightning strike causes him to
go completely deaf (he was already deaf in one ear before the accident). He
loves his aunt and uncle, but they don't really understand him. So when Ben
finds clues about his unknown father's identity and whereabouts among his
mother's things, he decides to run away from Minnesota to New York City to
see if he can discover where he really belongs.
