Wonderstruck has so many illustrations, it’s an easy read. After the death of Ben’s mother, he finds a clue to the possible identity of his father. So he runs away from his aunt’s house in northern Minnesota and takes a bus to New York City. Alongside Ben’s story, Selznick presents a parallel storyline through his illustrations, about a runaway girl who also finds her way to New York City. Overlapping and intersecting, their stories complete each other. The Search for Wondla is another illustrated adventure. Sci-fi this time. All Eva Nine has ever known is the Sanctuary and Muthr, her robot caretaker. But when an alien hunter breaks in and makes Eva his prey, she’s forced out of her home and into a world that doesn’t match anything from her lessons. And in The Door to the Lost, two exiles trying to eke out a living in a world that resents their existence run into a mess of trouble when a simple mistake exposes their existence to the authorities. Portal fantasy, anyone?
C. J. Milbrandt 