Selznick, Brian. The Invention of Hugo Cabret. New York City: Scholastic Press, 2007. 525 pages. (Historic Fiction/Graphic Novel)Hugo Cabret is alone. His father died in a fire and his uncle left and was found at the bottom of a river. He lives at the train station in hiding. In a small apartment inside the walls of the station he lives alone and twice everyday he makes his rounds and checks on every clock in the train station. Every day, after his rounds he works on the automaton his father had started to rebuild and fix. Following the precise diagrams in a notebook that his father had drawn, he tries to finish the job his father had started. Hugo steals his parts from a toy booth run by an old man. He has always managed to take what he needed and get away, until today.
Caught.
The old man takes his notebook and shoos him off. Without his notebook, Hugo is nothing. A lost soul. He has no purpose, until he finds out a way to get it back. He works for the old man at the toy booth and everyday he feels himself closer and closer to his notebook. But as he works, he feels himself growing more and more attached to the old man and his granddaughter, Isabelle. But all is not as it seems. The puzzle pieces are matching up a little too perfectly considering his family had no relations with the old man’s family. Hugo and Isabelle set off on a mission to learn a shocking truth and dig up the past.
The Invention of Hugo Cabret is truly one of a kind! There are 158 pictures in this book which help to tell the story incredibly. The details are amazing! The storyline of this book is intriguing and satisfying. I have read this book several times and it is the kind of story you will never get tired of. I recommend this book to all, as I have never seen another book like it. A five star rating from me!
Reviewed by: DancingPenguin96
