Another fantastic ARC I got at the ALA conference was The Marvels by Brian Selznick!!!
Unlike The Invention of Hugo Cabret and Wonderstruck, where the pages of illustration alternate with the text, in The Marvels, Selznick begins with 400 pages of a story told through illustration alone. This story follows five generations of a legendary family of actors, beginning with young Billy Marvel, the lone survivor of a shipwreck. It is followed by about 200 pages of text which centers on a boy in 1990 who runs away from school to his estranged uncle’s enigmatic London house. Then there are 50 more pages of illustration. The two stories seem to be unrelated, but are brought together in the brief, but powerful conclusion.
The story was inspired by Selznick’s visit to the Dennis Severs’ House in London and Selznick provides an explanation about this strange inspiration in the Afterword.
I am excited that I have this copy that I can out on the shelf of my new classroom in September.
booksandbassets 