Marvellous Middle Grade Monday: Wonderstruck by Brian Selznick

Welcome to Marvelous Middle Grade Monday, hosted by Shannon Messenger.  If you click on the link, you can go to her blog and check out the list of other bloggers who are participating and read their reviews, interviews, contests, etc, all to do with middle grade books.   

Book:  Wonderstruck by Brian Selznick, September 2011, Scholastic Inc., 640 pages. 

Synopsis from Goodreads:

From Brian Selznick, the creator of the Caldecott Medal winner THE INVENTION OF HUGO CABRET, comes another breathtaking tour de force.

Playing with the form he created in his trailblazing debut novel, The Invention of Hugo Cabret, Brian Selznick once again sails into uncharted territory and takes readers on an awe-inspiring journey.

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--weave back and forth with mesmerizing symmetry. How they unfold and ultimately intertwine will surprise you, challenge you, and leave you breathless with wonder. Rich, complex, affecting, and beautiful--with over 460 pages of original artwork--Wonderstruck is a stunning achievement from a uniquely gifted artist and visionary. 

My Thoughts:
This is the second book now that I've read by Brian Selznick and I have to say that he is brilliant! (You can read my review of The Invention of Hugo Cabret here.)  The way that he juxtaposes the text and the art, both of which move the story along, is amazing.

In Wonderstruck, he tells two stories:  one of Ben, a ten year old boy in Minnesota whose mother has just died, is told in the text; and the other of Rose, a deaf girl fifty years earlier, is told in the pictures.  These stories are weaved together beautifully to form a singular, beautiful story.

The characters and the emotion in the book are wonderful.  I found that I really felt for both Ben and Rose and their impossible situations.  Selznick uses both art and words to focus in on what is important and to help us sympathize with the characters.

Like the Invention of Hugo Cabret, this book appears to be long, but it is not.  It has so many wonderful illustrations, this book has over 460 pages of them, that it is actually a fast read.  However, I found myself lingering over the pictures, taking in the details and enjoying how well done they were.

I highly recommend this book for both kids and adults.  The book would be good for middle grade and up and for those who like a well told story with adventure and touching humanness.

Marvelous Middle Grade Monday: Amazon Breakthrough Novel Awards

 

Hello Everyone,
I didn't have another post for Middle Grade Monday, but then thought it would be a good time to share some exciting news:  My middle grade novel, The Prophesy of Ilverzah, made it to the quarter finals of the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Awards!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  (I still can't believe it myself).

Honestly, I was stunned when I saw my name on the list, as well as humbled and excited.  This seems like such a big step for me.  This is the first novel I wrote - it started two and a half years ago as an ill thought out decision to do National Novel Writing Month (for those of you who don't know, you write a 50,000 word novel in the month of November).  I sat down November first, not knowing what to write, not having a plot, but only some notion of a main character.  In fact, it took me several days to come up with a plot, but, I sat down each day and wrote my (absolutely terrible) 50,000 words.  I have then spent the last two and a half years editing the book and making it into something, I hope, other people would like to read.

So, for those of who are interested, you can go to Amazon and read the first 5000 words of my novel, as well as leave comments (for which I would be very grateful, I would love the feedback).

Here is the synopsis:
The Prophesy of Ilverzah is the story of four children who become immersed in a fantastic, beautiful, yet war torn magical parallel universe called Ilverzah - a universe that needs their unique talents in order to regain peace.

After shy, bookish, thirteen year old Mara finds a faerie in an energy field she created after a science experiment, her whole world changes. Along with her brother, Tom, and their friends Rose and Jason, Mara gets pulled into Ilverzah, unable to leave despite the efforts of the best magicians in the land. As idyllic and seductive as Ilverzah is, all the children want is the one thing that eludes them, to return home.

However, Mara and her friends soon find that Ilverzah is also a dangerous place. The land has been ravaged by a devastating, generation long, civil war. To make matters worse, the leader of the Demetros, the deranged centaur, Prince Carolos, believes that the children hold the key to winning the war and will not rest until he has them in his grasp. Then there is Ilverzah itself, the world has closed the portals home to the four friends. Perhaps there is some truth to the ancient prophesy that four children will tip the balance in the war and must play their part. If this is true, then Mara and her friends must each learn to use their unique gifts before it is too late.

The Prophesy of Ilverzah is an upper middle school fantasy novel, complete at 60,000 words, which I humbly compare to Narnia meets the Trojan War. It is a story of magic, prophesies, unexpected talents and trust in a chaotic and dangerous world.

Middle Grade Monday is a meme sponsored by Shannon Messenger.  You can go to her blog to get a list of all the great blogs participating.