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Wonderstruck

a Novel in Words and Pictures
Mar 01, 2019IndyPL_SteveB rated this title 4.5 out of 5 stars
*The Invention of Hugo Cabret* was a one-of-kind masterpiece – until Selznick published this nearly as impressive second book. This is also a fat novel partly told in pictures like a silent movie. The silent movie reference is important here because the two main characters are deaf. Ben has been deaf in one ear since birth. His mother has died recently; he never knew his father. When his house is struck by lightning, he loses hearing in his other ear. After going to a school for the deaf for a while, he determines to run away to New York City and track down his father. Ben’s story is told in text. Interlaced with Ben’s story, we are seeing the story of Rose, some 50 years before, all in pictures. Rose is about the same age as Ben in his story, but Rose is completely deaf. Her mother is an actress in New York but keeps Rose distant from her, across the Hudson River. Rose runs off to New York to find her mother. Both Ben’s and Rose’s story become intimately connected with the New York Museum of Natural History. Of course, as they must, their stories eventually connect in an intimate and moving way. A visual, thoughtful treat.