Wonderstruck

Author: Brian Selznick

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This is a “novel in words and pictures” even more so than the author’s celebrated The Invention of Hugo Cabret. By this I mean that the story is told by means of two threads. One, told mainly in words but with some haunting pictures (especially of dreams) is of young Ben Wilson. The other told entirely in pictures for the first two thirds of this hefty book is of a young girl in an earlier age. One of the joys of this complex literary device is the ability to hint at links between the two stories… and there is a delight in doing this while swapping medium (words to pictures and back). Initially the links are reflections or echoes, but gradually the two stories converge and as you might expect a moment comes when they become one story.

As with Hugo there is considerable drama surrounding the main protagonist, Ben. His mum has died, and though he is cared for by a kindly Aunt and Uncle, he is slowly starting to realise the depth and consequences of his loss. His nights are disturbed by terrifying dreams of wolves, and shows strange obsessions in wanting to collect tiny objects that are meaningless to others. All these disturbances crystallize when his one good ear is damaged and he decides to plunge into a search for someone or something he has lost.

I enjoyed reading Wonderstruck. It is, in appearance, a solid tome, but due to the heavy paper weight and many, many double spread illustrations the reading time is not that long. It is a satisfactory story with drama, tension and completion, but I enjoyed the medium and process a bit more than the actual story. There was a sense to me that the story telling was a bit disjointed in parts, and the ending perhaps too comfortable.

This would suit most ages though some of the images could be uncomfortable for young children, who would also struggle with some of the descriptive and explanatory print passages. There are important themes of dealing with grief, struggles with memory, friendship, family and disability. Just as Hugo celebrates the history of the theatre so Wonderstruck has a good deal about museums in it.

Andrew Lack
Head of the Odell Learning Resources Centre

The Knife of Never Letting Go

Author: Patrick Ness

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Interesting title, interesting concept, interesting typography... so why am I hesitant?

Todd is a thirteen year old boy... the youngest in his village, on a far planet. The village is in desperate straits, as a virus released by the alien inhabitants of the planet has killed all the women and left the men telepathic with unpleasant results. Tod is facing his coming-of-age ceremony with eagerness.

Everything changes when he stumbles on a "hole in the noise" in a trip to the nearby woods. The noise is the constant clamour of mental activity from other humans, even from animals and insects. He runs to tell his carers Ben and Cilian, and they react by telling him he has to flee the village immediately.

The story is well told. For instance, Todd has a dog, which is able to speak in one or two word sentences. The dog provides an amusing and sometimes poignant commentary on the drama that ensues. It quickly becomes clear that Ben is in danger from his own village, and that almost everything he has been told is a lie.

The "noise" is handled creatively with slabs of  rough "handwriting" text interposed to represent other's thoughts. This probably means the book will be a nightmare to turn into an eBook. The pace is frantic, and this is one of the problems I ultimately had. Despite the quirky ideas and competent writing, I thought there should be an ebb and flow in the pace. Instead, it is quite relentless seemingly from cover to cover.

The other problem I have is with the level of violence. Todd is pursued by Aaron, a semi crazed religious figure who seems unfazed by normal pain and damage (think Rasputin). We are presented with some fairly appalling descriptions of Aaron's increasingly hideous appearance and also a graphical depiction of a knife killing that Aaron becomes involved with.

Consequently a book that could have been a very imaginative and gripping read for younger students I am now inclined to put on the Senior Fiction shelves. The other problem is that I would rather this have been written as a book with its own natural arc and conclusion. Instead, the author has ended on a cliffhanger with the promise of a second (and no doubt a third) book. Some of the best sci-fi writers in the world manage book series without stooping to this device (for instance Ender's Game).

It is worth a read, but the creative ideas and style promise more than is, I think, ultimately delivered.

Andrew Lack

Leviathan

Author Scott Westerfeld, illustrated Keith Thompson

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I am not a big fan of “alternative history” novels, but the energy and imagination behind this teen “steam punk” novel won me at least half over. We are taken back to the days just prior to World War One... but to an Austria that has developed giant fighting machines a little like the “walkers” in Star Wars, and a Britain that has learnt how to genetically alter creatures to turn them into huge transporters or attack weapons.


The fun is in the imagined technologies, but the focus is on the adventures of two young people each caught up in the fighting: two young people destined to meet in strange circumstances. The story rolls out at a cracking pace, and it is moodily and ably illustrated every second or third page.


This is not a delicately crafted tale... it is told as an adventure story and you simply have to be prepared to suspend belief that quite so many wild adventures (and escapes) would happen to any one (or two) individuals. There are mysteries, and a bit of background story to each of the young people featured. Not all the mysteries are fully explained by the end of the book, as there are two more books to go in the series.


This is a fun read for younger teens who like adventure, and a reasonable introduction to the steam punk genre. It does raise some interesting questions about genetic engineering as well.


Andrew Lack