Wonderstruck

SELZNICK, Brian. Wonderstruck. A Novel in Words and Pictures. NY: Scholastic [2011]. 8vo, 640pp. Color pictorial boards. Silver endpapers; b&w illustrations throughout. A fine copy in original color pictorial dust jacket. Signed by the author/artist, Caldecott Medalist Brian Selznick.

First edition. The conceptual sequel to his Caldecott Medal-winning The Invention of Hugo Cabret, and the basis for the 2017 movie starring Julianne Moore and Michelle Williams. Ben and Rose secretly wish their lives were different. Ben longs for the father he has never known. Rose dreams of a mysterious actress whose life she chronicles in a scrapbook. When Ben discovers a puzzling clue in his mother's room and Rose reads an enticing headline in the newspaper, both children set out alone on desperate quests to find what they are missing. Set fifty years apart, these two independent stories – Ben's told in words, Rose's in pictures – about brave, determined young people dealing with hearing loss, weave back and forth with mesmerizing symmetry. Rich, complex, affecting, and beautiful, Wonderstruck is a stunning achievement from a gifted artist and visionary.