Wonderstruck

Reviewed by: Raven
by Brian Selznick
673 pages

The book Wonderstruck by Brian Selznick is a fascinating piece of literature with a twist ending that brings everything together perfectly. It features two main characters; Ben and Rose. Ben and Rose's stories take place fifty years apart, yet secretly they both wish their lives were different. Ben dreams for the father he never knew, and Rose dreams of a mysterious actress whose life she catalogs in a scrapbook. When Ben discovers a puzzling clue about his father in his mother's room and Rose reads an enticing headline in the newspaper, both children set out alone to find what they are missing. Ben's story is told in words and Rose's is told in picture; as they unfold and ultimately intertwine, they come together with surprising symmetry.