Wonderstruck in What's the Name of That Book???

Apr 25, 2011 Lisa Vegan rated it it was amazing

Shelves: childrens, fiction, owned-1300, orphaned-and-quasi-orphaned-kids, readbooks-male-author-or-illust, zz-5star, books-about-books, picture-books, historical-fiction, nyc

Wonderful! Fabulous! So special! Very clever!

I liked this book even better than The Invention of Hugo Cabret, and that’s saying a lot. it’s even more emotionally touching than that first book.

Ben. Rose. Jamie. Etc. All of them touched me.

For not the first time I am tempted to create a new-york or nyc shelf.

I read this book in one day. Rose’s story told via pictures and Ben’s told via text were both mesmerizing.

I have memories of the 1964 New York World’s Fair, which is mentioned/”shown” in this ...more

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Jul 26, 2018 Kate rated it really liked it

Shelves: age-middlegrade, 2018, graphic-novels

A girl in the 1920s runs away from home to New York City. A boy in the 1970s is struck by lightning and finds himself running away. One story told in pictures, the other in prose.

Despite this book being over 600 pages long, I read it in one day. I loved all the connections between the two stories, especially that this was a story with two deaf protagonists. I wasn't expecting that, and didn't realize the girl was deaf until much later in the story, even though there were a lot of hints. I also ...more

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Mar 04, 2012 Jessica rated it really liked it

Shelves: kids, new-york, great-illustrations, graphic-novels-comics

Brian Selznick does it again in this gorgeously illustrated story of two children, fifty years apart (1927 and 1977) whose lives intersect. Museums, wolves, lightning, the American Museum of Natural History, sign language, missing parents, and a turtle made of sseahells are some of the things that connect the two. References to From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler abound as young Ben finds himself running from Minnesota to New York in search of his father at the Kincaid Book Stor ...more

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Jun 07, 2011 Emma rated it liked it

In 1977 in Gunflint Lake, Minnesota Ben's mother just died. Ben has to share a room with his annoying cousin who makes fun of him for being born deaf in one ear even though his old house--the cottage he shared with his mom--is right down the road. Ben is drawn back to the cottage as strongly as he is to the wolves that chase him in his dreams. When a clue about the father he's never met points to New York City, Ben knows he has to follow it.

In 1927, Rose is suffocating at home with her father in In 1977 in Gunflint Lake, Minnesota Ben's mother just died. Ben has to share a room with his annoying cousin who makes fun of him for being born deaf in one ear even though his old house--the cottage he shared with his mom--is right down the road. Ben is drawn back to the cottage as strongly as he is to the wolves that chase him in his dreams. When a clue about the father he's never met points to New York City, Ben knows he has to follow it.

In 1927, Rose is suffocating at home with her father in Hoboken, New Jersey. All Rose wants is to be able to go out by herself, like the other kids, and to watch Lillian Mayhew in silent films. When Rose learns that sound is coming to the movies and that Lillian Mayhew is starring in a play right across the river in New York City, how can she stay away?

Will New York City reveal its secrets for Ben and Rose? Will either of them find what they're searching for in Wonderstruck (2011) by Brian Selznick?

Wonderstruck is Selznick's second book told in words and pictures like his Caldecott winning The Invention of Hugo Cabret. In this book Ben's story in words intertwines in surprising ways with Rose's story told through pictures.

Although the format is still brilliant and the story is once again clever and utterly original Wonderstruck lacks some of the verve and guileless charm of Hugo Cabret. The story is messier with a more immediate sense of loss and details that never tie together quite as neatly as they did in Selznick's earlier novel.*

New York's American Museum of Natural History plays a prominent role in this story adding a nice to dimension to the story that will make it especially appealing for some readers** but Wonderstruck felt very busy as though it was tackling too much in one book.

That is not to say that Brian Selznick is not a genius. He is--that fact is beyond debate. He combines words and pictures in a new way reinventing the whole idea of printed stories and blurring the line between prose fiction and picture books. His books are also always filled with historical details and facts that are well documented in a bibliography at the end of the story. Wonderstruck is a particularly find pick for anyone with an interest in New York City or museums.

*I'm thinking particularly of Jamie's behavior in the book. Also the fact that Ben never felt much of a loss after the lightning strike. Did anyone else find that odd?

**Like everyone who went to my grade school in 1993. Our building had asbestos so for a few months while it was being removed my entire school was bussed to the AMNH and we had classes there. We ate lunch under the whale every day. True story.

Possible Pairings: The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean, From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankenweiler by E. L. Konigsburg, Holes by Louis Sachar, The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick, Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli ...more

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Aug 13, 2011 Jessie rated it it was amazing

This book is a masterpiece. I liked it even more than Hugo Cabret, which I didn't think was possible. I'm super excited I got to read the ARC, but I can't wait for it to come out in hardback so I can read it again. I'm totally star-struck by Brian Selznick, he is a genius. ...more

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Nov 21, 2011 Rachel rated it liked it

This children's book has writing as well as illustrations that stand on their own in the narrative. I liked the idea, but by the end it seemed a little gimmicky. The story is cute and relies on lots of happy coincidences. ...more

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Oct 21, 2011 Marianne rated it it was amazing

I loved this book. Brian Selznick's art work is fantastic, and he weaves together 2 stories set in different time periods through pictures and words. I like this one better than HUGO CABRET. ...more

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Jan 03, 2017 Shauna rated it it was amazing

Just like Hugo, I consumed this in one sitting. It took me about two hours. This is my favorite format for YA/intermediate readers, aside from audiobooks, of course. Lots of research went into this historical fiction piece and it makes me want to return to Hugo and compare and contrast. A full five stars. Nice.

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Aug 22, 2011 Debbie Barr rated it it was amazing

Wonderful book. Poignant and powerful, with two stories beautifully intertwined. I loved the perspective from a deaf child during a time when the Deaf did not have a lot of rights, and how the two stories came together in the end. A great, surprisingly quick, read.

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