Wonderstruck
Bibliography
Selznick, Brian. 2011. WONDERSTRUCK. New York, NY: Scholastic Press. ISBN: 9780545027892
Plot Summary
In 1977, a young boy named Brian is living with his relatives after his mother passes away. Plagued by interesting dreams, he visits his old house to discover the truth about his father, where an accident renders him deaf. Through illustrations, we are introduced to Rose, a young deaf girl who longs to escape her New Jersey home to visit the wonders of New York. Going back and forth between writing and illustrations, Selznick beautifully captures how these two stories intertwine and while you may not always find what you are looking for, you will find what you need.
Critical Analysis
Selznick is a master at storytelling, through both words and pictures. He once again creates a wonderful book using both of these artforms with Wonderstruck, a story that intertwines two rather similar characters that dream of something that they must go out on their own to find. Both find what they are looking for and more.
With young Brian's story, Selznick uses imagery through words and shows us through Brian's thoughts and emotions what he is experiences with the death of his mother and the longing of wanting to know who his father is. We also see Brian's experience with becoming completely deaf and how he interacts with different characters that he comes across on his journey, namely another boy he meets in New York names Jamie. Selznick does an excellent job of showing this experience of having to communicate while being deaf and even introduces some sign language to the readers. Readers will be able to understand and maybe relate to Brian and his situations, which are easy to understand and comprehend through Selznick's use of diction and word choice.
With Rose, Selznick uses his unique black and white illustrations to bring Rose's story to life, where we see that she is also completely deaf and longs to connect with her family that mostly works and resides in New York. We see how she doesn't let her deafness stop her from dreaming and eventually taking on a massive project in her older age. Selznick does a great job of showing emotion through his illustrations, being able to depict true emotions in the eyes or body language of the characters he draws.
As the stories of Brian and Rose collide, Selznick creates a wonderfully surprising and satisfying conclusion that draws to a close the themes of family bonds, time and its passage, and how communication without words can be achieved and be beautiful
Review Excerpts
Horn Book Guide: "Ben's story suffers from an excess of telling rather than showing; nevertheless, there is much technical brilliance and genuine heart here."
School Library Journal Starred: "The dual text/illustration format is not a gimmick when used to tell the right stories; the combination provides an emotional experience that neither the words nor the illustrations could achieve on their own."
Publishers Weekly Starred: " It takes several hundred pages and a big chunk of exposition to connect these two strands, but they converge in an emotionally satisfying way. Selznick masterfully uses pencil and paper like a camera, starting a sequence with a wide shot and zooming in on details on successive pages."
Connections
Activity: Pictures yourself creating a diorama of your town. What are the special items or keepsakes that you would put under certain areas or buildings, like Rose in the book?
More by Brian Selznick: The Invention of Hugo Cabret
The Marvels
Baby Monkey, Private Eye
More like Wonderstruck: Splendors and Glooms by Laura A. Schlitz
Liar & Spy by Rebecca Stead
Charlie & Frog by Karen Kane
