The Marvels is a book about a young boy, Billy Marvel, surviving in a shipwreck. Later on, he finds work in a theater with many generations of a family of actors. Joseph Jervis runs away form boarding school in 1990 and comes to dark and snowy London looking for Link, his dog, and his uncle. I made a connection to this book of another book I did a review on, The Invention of Hugo Cabret. I read this book after reading the Invention of Hugo Cabret and I am not sure what book I love more. The author's way of writing these books is the way that gets me excited to pick up another book written by him and start reading it. I rated this book four stars, because it got confusing when they switched from Billy to Joseph but later on it started to come together.
The Marvels
By Brian Selznick
| Interest Level | Reading Level | Reading A-Z | ATOS | Word Count |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grades 4 - 8 | Grades 3 - 8 | X | 4.6 | 39054 |
Two stand-alone stories--the first in nearly 400 pages of continuous pictures, the second in prose--create a beguiling narrative puzzle.
The journey begins at sea in 1766, with a boy named Billy Marvel. After surviving a shipwreck, he finds work in a London theatre. There, his family flourishes for generations as brilliant actors until 1900, when young Leontes Marvel is banished from the stage.
Nearly a century later, runaway Joseph Jervis seeks refuge with an uncle in London. Albert Nightingale's strange, beautiful house, with its mysterious portraits and ghostly presences, captivates Joseph and leads him on a search for clues about the house, his family, and the past.
A gripping adventure and an intriguing invitation to decipher how the two stories connect, The Marvels is a loving tribute to the power of story from an artist at the vanguard of creative innovation.
The Marvels Image Gallery
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Book Reviews (15)
I just LOVE Brian Selznick because he can easily intertwine so many things together! I love his pictures and his stories. In this book the stories of 2 are also tied together, with a mystery to be solved. I would recommend this for ages 10+
It is so inspiring
This is a really great book. It has some of the stories told in words and some of the story told in pictures. The first part of the book is told in pictures then it is told in words then it is told in pictures.
saw some of the book so far and it was amaze
So GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD I read it and it's so cool how the pictures and words intertwine and the story plot is fabulous.
This book was so breathtaking! The illustrations were beautiful, and the story was well-written. I think this author really knows what he is doing; he's created THREE best-selling novels loaded with fascinating drawings and impressive stories. But THIS book is about a boy named Billy Marvel who is rescued and sent to England after a tragic shipwreck. He then discovers the Royal Theater, where he finds he truly belongs. One day, he finds a baby boy on his doorstep, and takes him in as one of his own. This boy adapts to the theater, has a son, and the story continues. The story then skips ahead to 1990. A new boy named Joseph is in search for his uncle after running away from his strict school with his friend, Blink. A mysterious friend, Frankie, helps Joseph find his uncle, but his uncle refuses to take him in. Eventually, he agrees, but not for long. Read to find out what happens next! This book is SO good, so read it!
Amazing book! I love the way it is split up into parts! Great story and it's by Brian Selznick who is an awesome author. Some of my friends didn't like it, but some of us thought it was good(my teacher included).
I looooooved this book! It was so good, there was a boy named Billy Marvel who was with his brother Marcus on a ship and there ship ended up catching fire so that Marcus billy and Billy's dog tar ended up on an island where Marcus dies and billy and tar are taken to London where they start acting and billy finds a baby once he's older and ends up starting a long line of family actors and all of this is written in pictures in the 1700's and then the part with words come in, in the 1900's and a boy name Joseph who runs away from school to find his friend so they can go on an adventure together but billy ends up just going to his uncle Alberta's house in London were Joseph must solve many mysteries. This is a must read and a series and I loved it!!!!!!!
This author was incredibly smart to think this through! Charcoal drawings and mysterious family members, I could talk about it all day! That is a great book and I recommend it. The detail is immense and don't think it is too big and intimidating. Love this book!!!!