Wonderstruck
By Brian Selznick
Hi! Have you ever had nightmares? Well, in this book, Ben has a lot. (Ben is the main character.)
Ben lives in Gunflint Lake, Minnesota at his aunt and uncle’s house. His mom died and he never knew his dad. One night, Ben decides to go to his mom’s house, which they are planning to sell. He saw a light on. He walks upstairs and there’s his cousin, Janet. She was smoking (she wasn’t supposed to smoke) and she was wearing Ben’s mom’s clothes. Janet left. Ben found a bookmark with his father’s name and number on it. There was a ginormous storm going on outside. He dialed the number. Just then, lightning hit the phone. He was half deaf, and he had to phone up to his good ear. Lightning hit the phone. He woke up in the hospital. The nurse was saying something, but he couldn’t hear. He was completely deaf.
Once he got better, he ran away. He went to New York to try to find his father (the bookmark also said where he lived – in New York). Ben boarded a train and went to his dad’s apartment. Or, his dad’s old apartment. When he got there, he discovered that his father had moved out. He stopped by a museum. There, he met Jamie. Jamie and Ben became close friends. Ben stayed there a few days. Then, later, Jamie told him that his father used to work at the museum, but he had moved away.
Will Ben find his father, will he really find any relative, or will he return home and go back to his old life? As I always say, read the book to find out!
I recommend this book to readers who like a little sadness and adventure in their lives. This is a unique book, so try it out and see what you think! I really liked it!
A few helpful things I like to say about the books I read:
“Run and Get Mom” (how I describe the scariness factor): No. None. Nada. Zero. (I don’t get to say that very much for scariness, do I?)
“Yucky-Lovey Stuff” (how I describe the romance factor): None. Zero. Nada.
I give this book 5 wands.
This book was perfect! It made me feel like I was actually living the story myself. At some of the sad parts, I almost cried (which is a good thing). And at the adventurous parts, I couldn’t put the book down!
P.S. - This was written by the same author who wrote The Invention of Hugo Cabret.
