The Marvels

The Marvels by Brian Selznick, 665 pages

This is the story of the Marvel family, a genealogy from Billy Marvel through his descendants, down to his great-great grandson, Leo.  The book tells the story of the family in pictures, especially Billy's story, which is a very exciting story of surviving a shipwreck with only his dog, Tar.  All of the family led exciting lives afterwards, being famous actors at the Royal Theatre.  The second half of the book is about a boy named Joseph, who runs away from his boarding school to his Uncle Albert's house in London.  He has never met his uncle, and it is there that he discovers the story of the Marvel family.  Joseph is determined to uncover the secret his uncle is hiding and to figure out what the connection is between his family and the Marvels.  This was an excellent story.  Despite it's length, it will be an easy sell to reluctant readers since half of the book is illustrations.  I think this might be favorite of Selznick's books so far.