This was a much anticipated follow-up to The Invention of Hugo Cabret and it did not disappoint. Told through narration and pen and ink illustrations like the silent stills of a movie, we follow Ben on his journey to find his father after the death of his mother. Through a strange occurence, Ben's good ear is injured when his house is struck by lightning and he now finds himself completely deaf as he ventures out alone and travels to New York from Gunflint Lake, Minnesota in 1977.
Meanwhile, another story is being told of a young deaf girl in Hoboken, New Jersey in 1927 who is locked in her house and runs away to New York City as well. While the two stories are intertwined, small phrasings and plot points keep them connected, but we don't know quite how connected the tales are until we come to the end.
The story was touching and sad, but not melodramatic and the juxtaposition of the two stories brings it to a whole other level much as Selznick deftly crafted Hugo Cabret. I was Wonderstruck :)
Intended reading level: Grades 5-8 Interest level: Grade 4
Genre: Realistic fiction, Mystery (sort-of)
Comparable titles: Selznick writes in his acknowledgements that he purposefully referenced The Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler and obviously it's similar to The Invention of Hugo Cabret in style. He also got inspiration from My Daniel, Call Me Ahnighito, and The Moffats.
Book Connections: museum (or memory) box, sign language book, panorama of cities, silent films, polaroids, dioramas, lightning
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