Wonderstruck

Wonderstruck (2011) by Brian Selznick is a graphic novel for children and young adults. The book follows the story of Ben, a deaf boy traveling to New York in 1977, and Rose, a deaf/mute girl traveling to New York in 1927. The stories overlap and weave together, as both Ben and Rose seek family and belonging. The book was adapted into a feature-length film, for which Brian Selznick wrote the screenplay. 

Plot Summary

The novel has two major plot lines. One, written as text, follows Ben Wilson, a young boy living in Gunflint Lake, Minnesota in 1977, who has recently lost his mother in a car accident. The other narrative is illustrated, with minimal text, and follows Rose, a deaf-mute girl living in Hoboken, New Jersey in 1927.

Ben struggles to overcome his grief for his mother and no longer feels at home in Gunflint Lake, where he is living with his cousins, aunt, and uncle, only a few feet from his empty childhood home. While searching his mother’s bedroom one day, Ben finds clues in a book called Wonderstruck, that lead him on a quest to find his father. His quest becomes more difficult, however, when a lightning bolt hits the house during a storm, causing Ben to lose hearing in his one good ear.

Meanwhile, Rose feels trapped in her childhood home. Her father doesn’t understand her, and she hates her tutor, who insists she learn how to lip-read. Rose becomes even more upset when the local movie theatre changes from written placards to sound, which she can’t hear.

Both Ben and Rose run away to New York City—Ben to find his father, and Rose to track down her mother, the actress Lillian Mayhew. All Ben’s clues come up empty when his father no longer lives at the same address, and the bookstore he visited was closed. Ben goes to the American Museum of Natural History, where he meets a friend, Jamie, and stays for a few days in an unused storage room, looking for traces of his father.

Rose finds her mother, who immediately tells her to go back home. In anger, Rose runs to the American Museum of Natural History, where she finds her brother, Walter, who takes her in. Rose stays with Walter, who reads to her from a book, Wonderstruck, about cabinets of curiosity.

Eventually, clues in an old filing cabinet and clues provided by Jamie lead Ben to the new location of Kincaid Books, where he meets his grandmother, Rose, and his great-uncle, Walter. Rose takes Ben to the Panorama, a display of New York City in Queens, and tells him the story of his father’s life.

As the novel ends, Ben reunites with Jamie. He no longer feels alone, with a friend and his grandmother by his side. The trio look out over New York City during a blackout, admiring the landscape and the stars.