The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick.
Lower Level -Youth Fiction - Selznick
Everyone in Hugo Cabret’s family is in one way or another connected to clocks. After a series of events, he moves in with his uncle in the train station. One of the few items that Hugo brings to his new home is a broken machine that his father invested a lot of time trying to fix. Convinced that his father programmed it with a secret message for him, Hugo invests hours upon hours trying to fix the machine. Hugo knows that he has to stay off the radar of the station inspector to keep his secrets. This becomes increasingly difficult after his uncle mysteriously disappears one day. Can he answer his own questions before he is discovered?
Like all of the gears in his secret machine that have to work together for the machine to function as it was designed, Hugo learns that there are many aspects of his life that are intertwined that need to come together properly for him to find meaning and purpose in his life.
The Invention of Hugo Cabret is a work of fiction, however, Selznick incorporates factual material about film history throughout the story as well. Readers will learn about early motion picture and how with one of Georges Méliès’s first films, Arrivée d'un train gare de Vincennes (Arrival of a train at Vincennes), viewers ran out of the theater terrified.
Don’t let the length of the book discourage you from reading the book. Selznick relies on graphics as well as text to tell the story. Approximately half of the book is full-page detailed black and white drawings. The Invention of Hugo Cabret is a quick, exciting read that will captivate both kids and adults. A great read for reluctant readers as the pictures help pull the story along . . .a picture is worth a thousand words after all . . .