Wonderstruck

• Genre: Fiction; young adult graphic novel
• Originally Published: 2011
• Reading Level/Interest: Lexile 830L; grades 5-9
• Structure/Length: 3 parts; approx. 640 pages
• Protagonist and Central Conflict: One of this novel’s intertwined stories, narrated in text, begins in 1977, when a deaf boy named Ben travels from Minnesota to New York City to look for his father after his mother’s death. The other story, told in pictures, follows another young deaf person, Rose, as she looks for her mother in New York City in 1927.
• Potential Sensitivity Issues: Death of a parent, parental neglect

Brian Selznick, Author and Illustrator

• Bio: Born 1966 in New Jersey; graduated from Rhode Island School of Design; won Caldecott Medal (2008) for The Invention of Hugo Cabret, on which the Oscar-winning film Hugo (2011) was based; has worked as a puppeteer; was inspired by the work of Maurice Sendak (Where the Wild Things Are) in writing Wonderstruck; wrote screenplay for the movie adaptation of Wonderstruck (2017); lives with his husband in San Diego and Brooklyn
• Other Works: The Invention of Hugo Cabret (2007); The Marvels (2015); Kaleidoscope (2021); Big Tree (2022)
• Awards: Publishers Weekly Best Book (2011); Booklist Editors’ Choice (2011); Kirkus Reviews Best Children’s Book (2011); School Library Journal Best Book (2011); ALA Schneider Family Book Award (2012)