The Marvels by Brian Selznick

               Every year my library sets up a display of books they think will make great holiday gifts.  One of the books on display this year was The Marvels.  The cover is what attracted my attention first, but it was the premise of the book that made me want to check it out.  I found a story about a multi-generational theatre family absolutely fascinating.  There were so many things about that family I wanted to know.  Then to have the story told in the interesting set-up of both pictures and text, I knew I had to give the book a try.           

                The story starts in the 1700s.  A young Billy is living on a ship with his older brother Marcus when they are caught in a storm while putting on a play for the other shipmen.  Billy and Marcus, along with their dog Tar, manage to escape the storm and find land, but Marcus does not survive.  With only Tar as his companion, Billy must figure out how to navigate the world on his own.

                After chasing Tar into a theatre, Billy realizes that the theatre is where his life is meant to be.  He grows up there and as an adult discovers an abandoned baby outside its doors.  Billy decides to raise the baby on his own in the theatre.  With this lifestyle, it should not come as a surprise that the child turns into a famous actor.  His son does the same, followed by his grandson.  It isn’t until Leo that the line of actors stops.  Much to his parents’ displeasure, Leo does not want anything to do with the stage.  He decides to run away but gets caught in a fire, and then…

                The story moves forward to 1990.  Joseph has run away from his boarding school in search of his Uncle Albert and his friend Blink.  He does not know if he’ll be able to find either one, but he certainly hopes so.  Boarding school is not the place for him (it wasn’t for Blink either, that’s why he ran away), and he’s hoping he’ll be able to find his place with an uncle he has never met.  In fact, he has hardly even heard anything about his Uncle Albert.  For some reason Joseph’s mother never mentions him, which makes Albert all the more interesting when Joseph finds out he exists.

                Unfortunately Joseph is not able to find Blink, but with the help of a local kid named Frankie, he is able to find Albert.  To say Albert is a surprise would be an understatement.  His eccentricities are something Joseph could never have imagined.  Everything in Albert’s house must stay in a very particular way.  It’s not that he has to have everything clean and spotless, but everything has to remain as though they are in the midst of a story.  Dinner parties stay on the table unfinished and boots remain muddied.  If Joseph tries to pick something up or polish something Albert didn’t specifically tell him to polish, Joseph gets into trouble.  Joseph cannot imagine why Albert lives this way, but he understands that as long as he respects Albert’s wishes he will be allowed to stay.

                While living with Albert, Joseph comes across the story of Billy and his family.  Certain these are his ancestors, Joseph asks Albert about them.  Instead of telling Joseph the family story, Albert refuses to say anything.  This only intrigues Joseph more.  He becomes determined to figure out who all these people were and sets out to discover the truth.  What Joseph uncovers is something he would have never believed before.

                 Don’t be fooled by the size of this book. Most of it is pictures which makes for a very fast read. There was one point where I did almost stop reading and that was when Frankie was being disrespectful to other people and their property. When this was happening I did skip ahead a bit to see if it lasted long. Thankfully it did not. If it had, I would have been too irritated to keep going with the book and ended up missing out on a great story.