The Invention of Hugo Cabret

Selznick, Brian. The Invention of Hugo Cabret. Scholastic, 2007. Tr. $22.99, ISBN 978-0-439-81378-5.

 

What’s it about?

This gorgeous, cinematic cross between a picture and a novel, features the orphaned Hugo Cabret, who is a thief and a scavenger heavy with secrets. When the grand-daughter of a toy-maker befriends him, Hugo begins to unravel the mystery behind the automaton his father left him, and its creator.

Find out more:

Twelve-year-old Parisian orphan Hugo Cabret’s father died in a fire at a museum and left his son with a damaged automaton. He went to live with his abusive uncle, who teaches him to steal. When his uncle disappears, Hugo doesn’t let on. Instead, he lives in the train station, becoming a thief and scavenger, and keeping up with his uncle’s job of keeping the city’s clocks running.  Then Hugo is caught stealing from a toy-maker, who is curious about the automaton pictured in Hugo’s notebook (which he initially thinks was also stolen).  Intrigued, he hires Hugo at his shop. The toy-maker’s grand-daughter Isabelle befriends Hugo. Together, the two eventually unravel the mystery of behind the automaton—and the real identity of Isabelle’s grandfather.

The Invention of Hugo Cabret is such a unique book, it is tough to categorize. When it won the 2008 Caldecott Medal, it was the first novel to win, and surprised a lot of people because the Caldecott is awarded to picture book illustrators, not novel or graphic novel artists. It's tough to call a novel, though, when half the book is comprised of Selznick's detailed, breath-taking, cinematic pencil sketches. There are also reproductions of drawings as well as film still from the mind of innovative film-maker Georges Meilies, one of the first to employ special effects in his work. The text and pictures are integrated seamlessly. This is a page-turner with a well-paced storyline that is just as intricate as the illustrations, with each character and detail clicking together to form a complex, mind-boggling narrative. This book is so cinematic in feel that it was a question of when, not if the book would hit the big screen. Martin Scorsese directed the film, which is in theatres now.  

   

Genre label: Mystery/suspense, historical fiction

Reading level: 5^th grade

Interest level: Grades 4-9

Subjects: Orphans, film-makers, automatons, Georges Meilies

Read-alikes:

This book is so unique, there are no true read-alikes. Readers who enjoy this book, however, will probably also like Konigsberg’s From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler.

Awards:

Caldecott Medal (2008)