The Invention of Hugo Cabret

by Brian Selznick
Published by Scholastic Press 2007
Reading Level 4-6 grade
544 Pages
Genre: Science Fiction

Summary:
The book opens on a scene of the Moon over 1931 Paris, France. The stars shine and we find ourselves inside the train station. As we flip through the black and white pictures we begin to follow a boy through the crowd. He slips into a vent in the wall and suddenly we are in the walls of the station. He looks out the clock on the wall and we look down on a toy booth. We soon learn that Hugo has been stealing from the old man who owns the booth. Taking toys for parts to fix a mechanical man. His father found the mechanical man while he was working in the museum, but his father was caught in a fire that burnt down the museum and he was killed. His Uncle came to his door that night and brought him to the train station where he has been living for quite some time. However, his uncle has disappeared. Unsure of where too find him, Hugo has been doing his job taking car of the stations clocks. He picks up his checks and keeps everything working so no one knows that his uncle is missing. When he realized that his uncle was not coming back he tried to run away but only founnd himself at the old museum that was only ashes now. Looking over the ashes he find the mechanical man and takes him back to the station because he realizes he has no place else to go. So no he has been trying to fix the mechanical man by taking the toys from the old man at his booth. It worked very well until Hugo is caught and the old man makes him work to repay all that he has stolen and takes his notebook that his father wrote with all the instructions of how to fix the mechanical man. The mechanical man was made to write a message so Hugo believes if he can fix it, the message with be for him from his father. So he knows he must get it back. But Hugo figures out how to fix the mechanical man without the help of the notebook and soon it is working well, except that he is missing the key that starts the man writing. As he is in the shop on day the old man starts yelling that he broke into his house and took the notebook. He has no idea what he is talking about until the man goddaughter comes around the corner and shows him she has it. He pretends to try to get it back but really he takes the necklace off which has a key in the shape of a heart on it. So he runs not telling the old man he had not stolen the notebook back. He runs to his room in the walls of the station and as he puts the key in and begins to turn it, the girl bursts in the door demanding to know why he stole her necklace. They start the man together and it draws them a picture. A picture of a movie Hugo's father had once told him about. Then the mechanical man signs the picture, with the old mans name! So the goddaughter thinks it belongs to her and grabs it but when Hugo grabs the other side it rips in half and Isabelle, the goddaugher, takes her half and runs home. Hugo follows. They ask her godmother all kinds of questions of where it came from. She tries to hide it but eventually they find out that Isabelle's godfather was a movie director and actor and after the war his dear friends who helped him make his movies, Isabelle's parents, were killed in a car accident and that it had upset him so much they got rid of all his movies and bought the toy store so they could have money. However he realizes he misses it so much, and he tells Hugo how he built the mechanical man. So Hugo goes to get it but by now the police have realized his uncle is not around and they try to arest him, but the old man takes him in as his own. Where, Hugo finds a home and his purpose in life.

My Reaction:
I loved this book. It had beautiful art work. I loved that it was only in black and white. I loved that the story would drop off and you would follow the story through pictures at different times. It put and unexpected spin on things.

Potential Problems:
Hugo does steal food here and there and the toys from the booth out of necessity but it may be a little touchy with some parents. Also his uncle is a drunk and they find him dead at one point. That may be a little much as well.

Recommendations:
I think this book would be fantastic for anyone, but especially those kids that think they cannot read big books. Even just carrying it around I felt smarter because I had a huge book under my arm. I think it would be a great motivating book. They may feel like they can transition from picture books to chapter books more comfortably.