New Book Review

The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick

Are you looking for a great mystery to read for this summer's Get a Clue @ Your Library summer reading program? Well, read this book! Brian Selznick not only tells a great story, but he also breaks new ground in bookmaking design. The visual concept is hard to describe, but it has aspects of both graphic novels and flip books, and is reminiscent of old movies. You just have to see it to really get the picture.

The story relates the life and mission of twelve-year-old Hugo, a boy who lives alone in the hidden recesses of a 1930’s Paris train station after the disappearance of his guardian, an uncle who was the station’s clock keeper. Hugo’s father, a clockmaker, had died in museum fire, leaving Hugo a broken robot/automaton and his notebooks about its mechanisms. Hugo is determined to stay hidden from view and put the complicated automaton in working order. He winds up doing some work for a mysterious toymaker whose shop is across from the train station, and he reluctantly becomes friends with the toymaker’s goddaughter. The plot is filled with suspense, secrets, dreams, and the world of early films and inventions.

A great read for kids in grades 4 – 8.