Synopsis: The Invention of Hugo Cabret: Brian Selznick

The Invention of Hugo Cabret. 978-0-439-81378-5. Brian Selznick. 2007. Caldecott Medal. Ages 13-15. French working class.

Synopsis:

The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick is intriguing from the moment it’s opened. With its striking black pages that emphasize the beautifully crafted drawings inside, its style truly invites the reader into an experience as bold as the characters inside. Growing up with little more than his father’s love and his knack for intricate puzzles, Hugo is a content boy with a growing sense of wonder. But when his father dies in a museum fire, Hugo must learn to cope with loneliness, fear, and injustice in order to survive. His obsession, what keeps him determined to live, is the automaton his father was repairing before he died. Using his father’s notebook, Hugo begins to reassemble the machine in hopes it might script a message from his father; but when he is caught stealing parts from a local toy maker, Hugo’s reason for living seems that much more crucial. Determined to get his notebook back, which has been taken as payment for the toys he has taken, Hugo befriends the toymaker, who we learn later to be early filmmaker Georges Melies. Through Melies’ goddaughter Isabelle, Hugo discovers what it means not to be isolated anymore. He discovers that what he needs to fix the automaton is within him, and that the two of them can literally unlock its secrets. Once the two children realize who Papa Georges really is, outbursts of emotional self-discovery and painful reality bring everyone together to appreciate not only the craft and clockwork of film, but of life.