Wonderstruck

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

This is an unusual book. Two stories are told simultaneously, one through text and the other through beautiful pencil illustrations. The text is a story of Ben. Ben has lost his mother and never known his father. One night, during a storm, he explores his mother's old bedroom. There he finds a clue about his father - a name and a phone number of a book store. As he tries to call, the house is struck by lightning and Ben ,who is holding the phone, is electrocuted. He becomes deaf. After time in the hospital, Ben runs away to New York City to find his father. All of his leads are dead ends and he ends up at the Museum of Natural Science. Ben is befriended by a boy name Jamie whose dad works at the museum. Jamie gives Ben a place to hide, sleep, and brings him food while promising to tell his dad and call Ben's aunt.

In pictures we learn that Rose, who lives in 1927,  loves an actress named Lilian Mayhew. She even sneaks out of the house to watch her in silent films. Later we learn that Rose, like Ben, is deaf. She is not allowed to leave the house and is being forced to learn to speak and lip read. She too runs away to New York City. She is heading to a Broadway show starring Lilian Mayhew. We learn that Lilian is her mother. She tells Lilian that she needs to head home. Rose runs to the Museum of Natural Science, where she is found by a guard in the Cabinet of Wonders. The guard is her brother.

The two stories collide in the Ben's timeline. He has learned that Jamie hasn't been honest with him and isn't really going to help him. He finds the bookstore that he had been searching for and meets Rose and Walter. That's when Ben learns that Rose is his grandmother. The story continues in both words and pictures explaining what happened to Ben's father and Rose. It gives hope for Ben's future, as a child and member of the deaf community.

It is the combination of the two stories, with the text and pictures that makes Wonderstruck so wonderful. Selznick intertwines the two stories so beautifully. I also appreciate his respect for the Deaf culture. He shares that sense of not belonging in the hearing world and looking for where you do belong. He also shares the desires of hearing parents for their deaf child to speak and lip read. Though that may be a choice for some, it is not always the best choice. We cannot force our wants on another, as we see through Rose's story.