Author: Brian Selznick
Year: 2007
Age Level: Intermediate
Genre: Mystery, illustrated
Plot Summary: Hugo Cabret is a young boy living in the hidden areas of the train station in Paris, France, 1931. He winds and repairs all the clocks in the station, keeping out of sight and stealing the necessities of life. His real project, however, is a mysterious "mechanical man" who, when fixed, will write what Hugo hopes is a message from his dead father. In his quest to repair the automaton, Hugo gets involved in a larger mystery that involves drawings, necklaces and dreams.
The inclusion of 284 pages of illustrations make this an exceptionally entertaining book, one that Brian Selznick describes as "not exactly a novel, not quite a picture book, not really a graphic novel, or a flip book or a movie, but a combination of all these things."
Award/s: 2008 Caldecott Medal,
Memorable quotes: "I like to imagine the world is one big machine. You know, machines never have any extra parts. They have the exact number and type of parts they need. So I figure if the entire world is a big machine, I have to be here for some reason. And that means you have to be here for some reason, too." --page 378
My rating: A. I hemmed and hawed about this one, mainly because the resolution and mystery were so entirely not what I expected. I did love the atmosphere of the book though, the illustrations are really, really lovely and the characters are quite charming. Hence the A.
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