September 12: Wonderstruck by Brian Selznick

Click Image to Enlarge

With a nod to the classic From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankenweiler, Brian Selznick’s new book Wonderstruck exhibits the exquisite magic of words and images.

Wonderstruck is the story of Ben and Rose, two lonely children in search of a place to belong. Rose’s story, told in pictures, begins in 1927 in New Jersey, just across the Hudson River from the lights of Broadway. 50 years later in Minnesota, Ben, whose story is told in words, is struck by lightning and loses his hearing shortly after the death of his mother. Rose, alone in her bedroom, keeps a meticulous scrapbook of a Broadway star, and Ben finds a clue to his absent father. Each of them escapes to New York City, where their stories eventually merge.

Through Rose’s and Ben’s treks through the city, we visit the back rooms of the Museum of Natural History, with its panoramic Minnesota landscape portrayed in the wolf halls. We experience what it is like to lose one’s hearing while navigating the big and noisy and fast moving city. And we feel the loneliness and disappointment of children left to fend for themselves.

When I think back to the memorable books I read, and re-read, as a child, they were typically stories of “children lost in the woods who find their way into a family.” When I finished Wonderstruck, I envied all the young readers who will discover this book for the first time and undoubtedly hold it dear for the rest of their lives.



Official website for Wonderstruck (Link)
NPR on Wonderstruck (Link)
NPR on Brian Selznick’s Caldecott Medal winner, The Invention of Hugo Cabret (Link)

Trailer for Martin Scorsese’s adaptation of The Invention of Hugo Cabret