Expanding upon the genre-breaking form he invented in his trailblazing debut novel, "The Invention of Hugo Cabret," Brian Selznick creates another multi-layered reading experience. "Wonderstruck" weaves together two independent stories, set fifty years apart—Ben's story, which takes place in 1977, is told in words; Rose's story in 1927 is told in pictures. Ever since his mother died, Ben feels lost. At home with her father, Rose feels alone. When Ben finds a mysterious clue hidden in his mother's room, and when a tempting opportunity presents itself to Rose, both children risk everything to find what's missing. Here's an excerpt.
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Water lapped at the dock, and the boats clacked against one another. A loon called across the night, and the stones of Gunflint Lake glittered faintly in the darkness. The woods at night were always spooky, and the weak beam of the flashlight didn’t stretch very far. Ben kept moving toward his house, where the one glowing window beckoned, staring back through the darkness like an unblinking eye. Under a vault of shaking black branches, he ran.
The doors to his house, like nearly all the doors along the lake, were unlocked. Ben quietly entered through the back, into the kitchen. He moved his small beam of light around the room. The flowers and food from the funeral had been cleared out, but the owl-shaped cookie jar sat on the counter with its head off, the way it always had. The junk drawer remained closed crookedly. The refrigerator was still covered with his mom’s favorite quotes. It was like entering a museum of his old life.
Ben realized that he could hear music playing softly in the distance. He turned his head to hear it more clearly and a chill went down his spine.
“This is Major Tom to ground control;
I’m stepping thro’ the door,
And I’m floating in a most peculiar way.
And the stars look very different today
For here am I sitting in a tin can far above the world. . . .”
Ben heard footsteps. He turned his good ear toward the direction he thought the sound was coming from . . . somewhere near his mother’s room, he guessed.
Ben had never really believed in ghosts, although some of the stories his mom had read to him when he was younger had kept him up at night. He tiptoed slowly down the hall to his mom’s room, the blood pounding in his head. A faint smell of cigarette smoke grew stronger as he got closer.
Ben paused in the hallway, dizzy with fear. “You shouldn’t be such a turtle.”
He inched closer until he was right outside her door. He turned off the flashlight and put it in his back pocket.
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The door was open a crack, and he could see the framed Van Gogh print—a big black tree and a swirling night sky with golden stars. A shadow moved across the room.
Ben thought about the shooting star and the impossible wish he’d made. With a trembling hand, he slowly pushed open the door.
From "Wonderstruck" by Brian Selznick. Scholastic Inc./Scholastic Press. Copyright (c) 2011 by Brian Selznick. Reprinted by permission.
Even people who don't follow the life and times of the rich and famous seem to take an interest when they get married. This year's royal wedding between Prince William and Kate Middleton caught the attention of the world, and three months later as they make their way to Canada and the United States, the hysteria hasn't worn off. (For more on the cost of wedding check out Revealing The Hidden Costs Of Weddings.)
For those getting married in the near future, there may be very few pointers to be gained from these weddings but for those who have a spare $5 million to spend on their wedding, we have some resources to get you started. Below are our top five most expensive weddings of the 21st century. For you numbers-types, we adjusted the amounts for inflation and converted them to American dollars using currency rates from the date of the wedding.
Even people who don't follow the life and times of the rich and famous seem to take an interest when they get married. This year's royal wedding between Prince William and Kate Middleton caught the attention of the world, and three months later as they make their way to Canada and the United States, the hysteria hasn't worn off. (For more on the cost of wedding check out Revealing The Hidden Costs Of Weddings.)
For those getting married in the near future, there may be very few pointers to be gained from these weddings but for those who have a spare $5 million to spend on their wedding, we have some resources to get you started. Below are our top five most expensive weddings of the 21st century. For you numbers-types, we adjusted the amounts for inflation and converted them to American dollars using currency rates from the date of the wedding.
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Amit Bhatia and Vanisha Mittal Date: June 22, 2004 Cost: $78 Million Vanisha Mittal is the daughter of the owner of the largest steel company in the world, while Amit Bhatia is an investor based in London. No money was spared in this wedding. This six-day affair had 1,000 guests flown in on 12 charted Boeing jets. The wedding was held at the Grand Versailles in Beirut, Lebanon and featured 45 chefs, 10,000 flowers, a huge wedding cake and all female guests were treated to luxurious bags of gifts. If that wasn't enough, nightclubs across the city were rented out so the couple could act out a specially written Bollywood story of how they met.
Kate Middleton and Prince William Date: April 29, 2011 Cost: $34 Million If you thought that the most talked about royal wedding since Princess Diana would undoubtedly be the most expensive wedding in history, it's not even close although it will be regarded as the gold standard for high society weddings of the modern age. England has a long history of lavish weddings and this was no exception. Between her $136,000 wedding ring, $80,000 cake, $70,000 dress, $800,000 in flowers, $600,000 wedding reception, luxurious hotel rooms for guests costing $550 per room per night, and police protection that cost taxpayers extra money in overtime and holiday pay, no expense was spared. If you're like most of the world, you probably watched the wedding or found scores of pictures.
Nicole Lisanne, a wedding consultant and designer based in the San Francisco Bay area, helped the Ashworths plan their wedding. Lisanne said midweek weddings like theirs can work out well when couples give guests plenty of notice about the date. She also noted that guests at midweek weddings often enjoy reduced rates on hotels and flights, less traffic and less crowded restaurants at rehearsal dinners — plus they don’t have to sacrifice their entire weekend for a wedding.
“You just see much less stressed-out people,” she said.
In recent years, Lisanne has seen a sharp increase in the number of Thursday night rehearsal dinners followed by Friday night weddings.
“Fridays are kind of the new Saturday,” Lisanne said. “That might have been an effect of the economy. ...