Wonderstruck

Selznick, B. (2011). Wonderstruck. New York, NY: Scholastic Press.

Texas Bluebonnet Award, 2012 - 2013

Exposition (the beginning of the story, establishment of setting and characters):  Brian Selznick expertly begins Wonderstruck by telling two stories side by side, one through words and the other through his beautiful illustrations; Ben Wilson’s story, which is told through words, begins at Gunflint Lake, Minnesota in June 1977, and Rose’s story, which is told only through illustrations until the end of the book, begins as a young girl in Hoboken, NJ in October 1927. 

Conflict (the problem(s) faced by the characters):  Brian’s mother recently died in a car accident, giving him a strong desire to search for his father, and he does so by using a bookmark from Kincaid Books and a book titled Wonderstruck he discovered while searching through his mother’s room one stormy night after her death; Rose is a young deaf girl who lives set apart from the rest of the world and is desperately trying to escape to a place where she can belong.

Rising Action (events in the story leading up to the climax): After becoming deaf from a lightning strike, Ben escapes his hospital room in Duluth with the help of his cousin Janet, and using an address on a bookmark given to his mother by his father, he runs away to New York City and tries finding his dad first at the address, then at the book store, and finally at the American Museum of Natural History; Rose’s journey seemingly parallels Ben’s as she also escapes to New York City, but instead, she is searching for an actress, Lillian Mayhew, who turns out to be her mother, and when her mother refuses to see her, Rose also ends up at the museum and finds her brother Walter who works there.

Climax (the culmination of events in the story, point of highest reader interest):  Though there are many exciting events in this story as the reader watches both stories unfold and discovers clues that seem to link Ben and Rose together, the actual climax of the story is when Ben and Rose’s stories intertwine, as he and the old woman he and his friend Jamie saw looking at the wolf diorama at the museum both enter Kincaid Book Store, and after looking at the locket around Ben’s neck, the old woman realizes that her son Danny is Ben’s father and she is his grandmother, Rose.

Falling Action (events leading to the solving of the story’s problems):  Rose tells Ben that Walter had given her Wonderstruck as a young girl and that she had given it to Danny, and because Ben wants to know about his father and if he is still alive, Rose takes Ben to Queen’s Museum of Art and shows him the Panorama of New York City she had worked on with his father, while telling him how she ended up living with Walter and going to a school for deaf children, how she met his grandfather, how his parents met and fell in love, how they both were not willing to leave their homes to be together, and how Danny died a few years after he met Ben’s mother due to a heart condition. 

Resolution (how events and problems of the story are solved): Ben, Rose, and Jamie, Ben’s friend who had followed them to the museum, sit on the roof of the museum looking at the blackout over the city, and when Ben saw the North Star in the night sky, he remembered his mother’s words from long ago telling him that he would always be able to find his way home if he found the North Star, and he realizes he has found where he belongs in the city with Rose and his new friend Jamie, who helped him discover the path to his father, to Rose, and his home.

Chapter books only (List two strong literary qualities displayed in the book and write one sentence about each quality): This is an excellently written book because it contains so many literary qualities, but one that is predominant is Selznick’s use of illustrations to tell Rose’s story wordlessly; he is masterfully able to show her actions, expressions, thoughts, and feelings through his illustrations, and the reader is easily able to follow her storyline.   The other literary quality displayed in this book which makes it so well made is Selznick’s use of plot; the reader cannot help but care about Ben and Rose’s stories and helplessly watches as their stories knit together.

Picture books only (Was this a well illustrated book? Describe how it was or was not well-illustrated in 3 sentences.):  Wonderstruck is both a novel and a picture book combined, and it is one of the best illustrated books I have had the privilege of reading to date.  Though no color is used, it is not necessary as Brian Selznick is able to skillfully tell a story through his very detailed and beautiful pencil drawings.  He captures feelings and thoughts through his artwork like no other, and if there is something in the drawing he really wants the reader to notice, he will magnify that object or expression on the next page, helping the reader to easily follow the story.