Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #297 in Books
• Published on: 2007-01-30
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 544 pages

Amazon.com
Book Description:
Orphan, clock keeper, and thief, Hugo lives in the walls of a busy Paris train station, where his survival depends on secrets and anonymity. But when his world suddenly interlocks with an eccentric, bookish girl and a bitter old man who runs a toy booth in the station, Hugo's undercover life, and his most precious secret, are put in jeopardy. A cryptic drawing, a treasured notebook, a stolen key, a mechanical man, and a hidden message from Hugo's dead father form the backbone of this intricate, tender, and spellbinding mystery.

The Houdini Box

Walt Whitman: Words for America

The Boy of a Thousand Faces

From Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. Here is a true masterpiece—an artful blending of narrative, illustration and cinematic technique, for a story as tantalizing as it is touching.Twelve-year-old orphan Hugo lives in the walls of a Paris train station at the turn of the 20th century, where he tends to the clocks and filches what he needs to survive. Hugo's recently deceased father, a clockmaker, worked in a museum where he discovered an automaton: a human-like figure seated at a desk, pen in hand, as if ready to deliver a message. After his father showed Hugo the robot, the boy became just as obsessed with getting the automaton to function as his father had been, and the man gave his son one of the notebooks he used to record the automaton's inner workings. The plot grows as intricate as the robot's gears and mechanisms [...] To Selznick's credit, the coincidences all feel carefully orchestrated; epiphany after epiphany occurs before the book comes to its sumptuous, glorious end. Selznick hints at the toymaker's hidden identity [...] through impressive use of meticulous charcoal drawings that grow or shrink against black backdrops, in pages-long sequences. They display the same item in increasingly tight focus or pan across scenes the way a camera might. The plot ultimately has much to do with the history of the movies, and Selznick's genius lies in his expert use of such a visual style to spotlight the role of this highly visual media. A standout achievement. Ages 9-12. (Mar.)
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From School Library Journal
Starred Review. Grade 4–9—With characteristic intelligence, exquisite images, and a breathtaking design, Selznick shatters conventions related to the art of bookmaking in this magical mystery set in 1930s Paris. He employs wordless sequential pictures and distinct pages of text to let the cinematic story unfold, and the artwork, rendered in pencil and bordered in black, contains elements of a flip book, a graphic novel, and film. It opens with a small square depicting a full moon centered on a black spread. As readers flip the pages, the image grows and the moon recedes. A boy on the run slips through a grate to take refuge inside the walls of a train station—home for this orphaned, apprentice clock keeper. As Hugo seeks to accomplish his mission, his life intersects with a cantankerous toyshop owner and a feisty girl who won't be ignored. Each character possesses secrets and something of great value to the other. With deft foreshadowing, sensitively wrought characters, and heart-pounding suspense, the author engineers the elements of his complex plot: speeding trains, clocks, footsteps, dreams, and movies—especially those by Georges Méliès, the French pioneer of science-fiction cinema. Movie stills are cleverly interspersed. Selznick's art ranges from evocative, shadowy spreads of Parisian streets to penetrating character close-ups. Leaving much to ponder about loss, time, family, and the creative impulse, the book closes with a waning moon, a diminishing square, and informative credits. This is a masterful narrative that readers can literally manipulate.—Wendy Lukehart, Washington DC Public Library
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Customer Reviews

Great Book for Adults and Children
We read this book as a family. My youngest son hates to read but with this story he was the first to ask if we could read each night. Great visualizations and illustrations for the reader.

A brilliant invention.
When I first picked up this book I knew I was holding something special. "The Invention of Hugo Cabret" is a story told not only through words, but also through a series of pictures (like watching an animated feature), but furthermore through the physical object of the book itself.

Mr. Selznick has created a one-of-a-kind entity that just so happens to fit on a library shelf, but that acts as so much more than a book. In general, authors tell their stories through words and filmmakers through pictures. Selznick has combined the two and come up with something that is more than just the sum of the parts.

I have a feeling we're going to see a slew of copy-cat books trying to replicate the magic that Selznick created in this "invention" of his, but my guess is that most of them will fall flat without the brilliant interplay of subject matter and form that comprise this masterpiece.

This is a book full of mystery and suspense, and keeps you rooting for Hugo and wanting to enter deeper into his world. It was truly a joy to turn each page, and as I closed the back cover, it left me with an immense smile of satisfaction on my face.

I highly recommend this as a book that can be enjoyed by people of all ages, from younger children to teens and adults. A brilliant invention!

Wow!!!!
I so enjoyed this book. The story line was interesting and the sketches worked so well at telling the story. It is like a picture book for the YA crowd. I must confess that my husband and I enjoyed it as much as our 14 year old!