Brian Selznick, Wonderstruck October 23, 2011

Brian Selznick, Caldecott Medal winner and author of The Houdini Box and more, makes his only San Francisco appearance at the Contemporary Jewish Museum. Selznick will read and show illustrations from Wonderstruck, his new novel for young adults.

The story, told alternately in words and picture, is about two 12-year-old runaways, a girl in 1927, and a boy in 1977, whose stories intersect at the
American Museum of Natural History. They have one thing in common: She is deaf, and he loses his hearing when he is struck by lightning.

Selznick was born and raised in New Jersey. He graduated from Rhode Island School of Design. He sold books and painted windows for three years at Eeyore’s books for Children in New York City while he worked on his first book, The Houdini Box. In 2002, he won the Caldecott honor for The Dinosaurs of Waterhouse Hawkins, and in 2008 he received the Caldecott Medal for The Invention of Hugo Cabaret. Martin Scorsese based his upcoming film, Hugo, on The Invention of Hugo Cabaret, which is set to be released this fall.

The presentation will be accompanied by a sign-language interpreter. Book signing to follow.

Free with Museum admission; Advance reservations strongly recommended.