I never read jackets of books because I’m often worried it will contain some crucial information about the story. I tend to forgo movie reviews for the same reason. I jump in head first, which sometimes results in a couple of agonizing hours wasted. When I jumped into Wonderstruck, I had a similar experience, but for a different reason. It helps to understand the basic premise of Wonderstruck before you start reading it. Once you understand the structure of this unique work, it’s easier to appreciate what Selznick has accomplished.
For those not familiar with Brian Selznick’s work, he writes children’s novels both in pictures and words. I had been waiting for Wonderstruck to hit the shelves for some time and as soon as a copy came in for a hold, I went right to it. After a few pages, it became quite apparent that the written portion of the story didn’t match up with the drawn part of the story. For one thing, the main character of the written story is a boy while the illustrated portion seemed to follow an adventure of a heroine. Could it be…? Yes, it most definitely was. I began searching the cover back, front, inside and outside for some explanation to placate this peculiarity. The story follows two separate individuals and their tales take place in different times. Without giving too much away, these two young people arrive at the same destination through different motivations. It is much like Selznick’s Caldecott Award winning work The Invention of Hugo Cabret. In some ways, a little too much. But I still love the courageous characters and their knack for finding adventure all the same. There is a certain magic in the pencil drawing that is so personal as well. It is a fast read, but also very gratifying to read due to the sheer size of the book itself.
