Wonderstruck by Brian Selznick
So today as I was at the elementary school I volunteer at, I was handed Wonderstruck by Brian Selznick (the author of The Invention of Hugo Cabret).
I just LOVED Hugo, both the movie and book, (Review Here) and so I knew I had to read Wonderstruck.
This book was amazing! Absolutely beautiful, just like The Invention of Hugo Cabret was. It was like reading two stories in one, that ended up colliding together and fitting perfectly like the last piece in a puzzle.
Wonderstruck takes place in 1977, and it's the story of Ben, a boy who has just lost his mother, and is living with his Aunt, Uncle, and cousin. One night, when a storm starts Ben sees a light in his mother's room, in the house across from his Aunt and Uncle's. When he goes to see what it is, he finds a surprise. Expecting the impossible, Ben is left disappointed, but as he is left alone in the room he starts looking around his mother's room and finds somethings that are clues to someone he never knew...his father.
Finding a telephone number to a bookstore, where a man named Daniel address his mother on, Ben calls the number...however, as he hear the ringing, he never hears an answer, because the next thing he knows he is waking up in the hospital.
Before waking up in the hospital Ben had been deaf in one ear. But when he wakes up, he finds himself not hearing anything at all. The phone line he had been using to call the book store, had been struck by lightning, and it had made his only good ear lose its hearing too.
Not feeling at home at his Aunt and Uncle's house, Ben runs away and finds himself on an adventure that will change his life forever.
Will Ben find more clues to his father's whereabouts? Will Ben find his father?
Now here is where the second story comes in...
Throughout Brian Selznick's novels (at least in the case of The Invention of Hugo Cabret and Wonderstruck, I don't know about his others), not only does the writing tell the story, but so do the pictures.
Selnick's draws all of these himself! And let me just tell you...they are absolutely amazing!
The details in these pictures! WOW! All I have to say is, if I could draw like this, I don't think I would ever have to write a word again in my life! What I really wonder is HOW LONG does it take him to write one these novels, with the pictures? I imagine it takes quite some time! Because there are hundreds of pictures in both Hugo and Wonderstruck!
Well anyway...back on topic here...The pictures take place in 1927. They show a girl...
I just LOVED Hugo, both the movie and book, (Review Here) and so I knew I had to read Wonderstruck.
This book was amazing! Absolutely beautiful, just like The Invention of Hugo Cabret was. It was like reading two stories in one, that ended up colliding together and fitting perfectly like the last piece in a puzzle.
Wonderstruck takes place in 1977, and it's the story of Ben, a boy who has just lost his mother, and is living with his Aunt, Uncle, and cousin. One night, when a storm starts Ben sees a light in his mother's room, in the house across from his Aunt and Uncle's. When he goes to see what it is, he finds a surprise. Expecting the impossible, Ben is left disappointed, but as he is left alone in the room he starts looking around his mother's room and finds somethings that are clues to someone he never knew...his father.
Finding a telephone number to a bookstore, where a man named Daniel address his mother on, Ben calls the number...however, as he hear the ringing, he never hears an answer, because the next thing he knows he is waking up in the hospital.
Before waking up in the hospital Ben had been deaf in one ear. But when he wakes up, he finds himself not hearing anything at all. The phone line he had been using to call the book store, had been struck by lightning, and it had made his only good ear lose its hearing too.
Not feeling at home at his Aunt and Uncle's house, Ben runs away and finds himself on an adventure that will change his life forever.
Will Ben find more clues to his father's whereabouts? Will Ben find his father?
Now here is where the second story comes in...
Throughout Brian Selznick's novels (at least in the case of The Invention of Hugo Cabret and Wonderstruck, I don't know about his others), not only does the writing tell the story, but so do the pictures.
Selnick's draws all of these himself! And let me just tell you...they are absolutely amazing!
 |
| This is an example from the Wonderstruck |
Well anyway...back on topic here...The pictures take place in 1927. They show a girl...
 |
| The Girl |
and her journey of escaping her life at home.
What's amazing about this story, was how both stories just fit perfectly into place at the end of the story. And Ben and the girl both have something in common...more than one thing actually...
So you may be wondering, how do both these stories fit together? How are Ben and the girl connected?
Well, to find out check out Wonderstruck by Brian Selznick. :)
This is truly a beautiful, incredible story that you will remember for a long time to come...if not for the story, then at the very least for the pictures! :)
Overall rating:
Oh and like I said I was handed it this morning, started it this afternoon and finished it already!
Overall rating:
Oh and like I said I was handed it this morning, started it this afternoon and finished it already!
The Romance Bookie :)
PS: Before I go, I want all of you to know...tomorrow I will be posting some very exciting news!!!! For all Bloggers AND Meg Cabot fans!! So keep reading! :)
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