by Brian Selznick
JFic Selz
Wonderstruck is the followup to the Caldecott winning The Invention of Hugo Cabret which is probably the wordiest book to ever the award. Both use a series of prose and pictures to tell a story. They both take place in the past and both deal with orphans. They are both amazing books from start to finish. It took me around two hours to finish them each and I would say it was better than going to the movies.
It is 1977 in Gunflint Lake, Minnesota, and Ben Wilson is a young boy who has lost his mother. He now lives with his well-meaning aunt and uncle who are struggling financially, sharing a room with a resentful and bullying cousin, Robby, and wishing for the one thing that he can never have. Robby, partially deaf, has grown up in the sheltered world created by his mom, a single mother and librarian who fed his fascination with outer space and covered their fridge with her favorite quotations, and she isn't coming back.
Interspersed with Ben's story is that of a young girl, told only in pictures. Her story begins enigmatically- a small girl sitting at a desk, surrounded by models of skyscrapers which appear to be made after the view from her window of the 1927 New York City skyline. Why does she write a note with the words "Help Me" on it? Is she a prisoner in this room where she must have spent so many painstaking hours creating the models around her? Why does she seem fixated on a famous actress, enough so to climb down the tree outside her window to sneak off to see one of her silent films at the movie theater?
The two stories are expertly interwoven and when they collide it definitely pulled at my heart strings. Brian Selznick I am sure will be put on the short list again this year for the Caldecott award along with a whole mess of other awards and honors.
The pages of pictures out number the pages of text by taking up 460 of the 608 pages. The pictures themselves have a cinematic tone by using angles and zooming in and out through the pictures. This gives an effect of focusing in on the character and creating a sense of movement and scope. All of the pictures are black and white and done in either pencil or charcoal with a cross-hatching style.
I would highly recommend either of his books. The Invention of Hugo Cabret will be coming out to theatres as Hugo in November.
