Wonderstruck by Brian Selznick

Title: Wonderstruck
Author: Brian Selznick
Genre: Junior Fiction
Rating: 5

After waking up at 2am with far too much on mind (Summer Reading Program, new house, impending wedding, etc.) I picked up Wonderstruck and did not go back to sleep until 4am (oops!), but that's how all consuming this book is.  It is an amazing read!  I am a solidified fan of Brian Selznick now. The Invention of Hugo Cabret is absolutely amazing too.

Review:
A young boy's journey through loss, tragedy, difficult changes, and ultimately the discovery of a lifetime. Ben loses his mother and must live with his aunt, uncle, and cousins. Then he faces another major set back when he tries to discover more about his father who he has never met. Ben sets off on the adventure of his lifetime to meet his father, and although the journey and outcome aren't exactly what he expects the results are astounding and change his life forever.

Along with Ben's journey, the story of a young deaf girl named Rose is also told mainly through pictures. The two stories interweave and mesh together perfectly adding an extra element to the book.

The story is masterfully told through not only carefully chosen words, but perfectly suited pictures. This was an awesome novel which people of all ages will enjoy and re-read just to see if they missed anything the first time.

"Ben wished the world was organized by the Dewey decimal system. That way you'd be able to find whatever you were looking for..."