Selznick, Brian. (2011). Wonderstruck. New York, NY: Scholastic.
Genre: Historical Fiction
Awards: New York Times Best Seller Books
Lexile Measure: 830L
DRA: 60
AR: 5.4
Summary: Ben lost his hearing when he was struck by lightning and lost his mother in a car accident. While going through her personal belongings he finds a clue that will lead him to his father, a man he has never known. He decides to take his chances and set off to look for him. Rose is a deaf girl who also set out alone on a desperate search for the mysterious actress she keeps a scrapbook of. Ben's story is set in Minnesota in 1977 and is told entirely by words. Rose's story is set in New Jersey in 1927 and is told entirely in black and white illustrations. This are two separate stories that are set 50 years apart, but interlock and collide with a special connection.
Reader Response: Brain Selznick has definitely created a "wonder" with this story. I enjoyed how Ben's and Roses's stories alternate in each chapter. At first I had hard time connecting both stories, but that only made it more mysterious and engaging. I found myself looking for clues just like Ben and Rose. Reading Wonderstruck I also learned a brief history of The Queens Museum of Art in New York City and its panoramas, the dioramas at the American Museum of Natural History, Natural History Museums, and the Gunflint Lake Region. The story also educates us on the deaf culture and sign language.
Other books by Brian Selznick:
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