Wonderstruck

I recently read Wonderstruck and it was a great read.  It is written and illustrated by the author of The Invention of Hugo Cabaret.  Wonderstruck is written in a similar format part picture part words but in Wonderstruck there are two different narratives; one told in words, one told in images.  In the narative told in words the protagonist is Ben.  He lives in Gunflint Lake, Minnesota with his mother until she dies.  After going through his mother's items he discovers clues to the whereabouts of his father which lead him to running away and going to New York city in search of his father.  Ben is nearly deaf after being struck by lightning.  In the other narrative the protagonist is a deaf girl living in Hoboken fifty years before the other narrative takes place.  The deaf girl runs away from her home to New York city.  The format in Wonderstruck was good but the pictures could't show many details and I preferred the text much more.  The writing is very descriptive; the characters weren't developed enough and many secondary characters have no background information.  I wish the book was longer and I wished a larger percent of it was written instead of pictures however the desecrate style of writing and images are suspenseful.  Overall, despite its flaws, Wonderstruck was a great book.