The Invention of Hugo Cabret
By Brian Selznick
Hi! My little brother says he wants to be an inventor when he grows up. Do you like inventions? Well, this book is about 2 inventions. One, you find out about at the very beginning and the whole book is based on that mention. The other one, you find out about at the end and it’s really cool to figure out what it does!
First things first. Imagine complete darkness, like the beginning of the world. Then imagine the sun, slowly rising. Then imagine a town. Then imagine that you’re following this boy through the town. This boy is Hugo Cabret, and that is where this story begins. Hugo Cabret is an assistant to a Timekeeper (his uncle). The Timekeeper died long ago and Hugo doesn’t want to get caught by the Station Inspector. The Station Inspector is an adult who calls police and takes children to an orphanage, or puts children in jail when they’re being bad. Hugo doesn’t want to get caught because, as I already mentioned, his uncle died and his parents were dead also, so he doesn’t want to be put in an orphanage or go to jail.
He tried his best to fix the clocks every day so it didn’t seem suspicious, but he was also trying to fix the automan. It was his father’s. His father died in a fire. Hugo had to steal some parts from a toy store, but he was caught in the act. The person at the toy store stole his notebook. His notebook held all of the information that he needed. He was trying to get the notebook back because the automan was his father’s and he thought that his father had written a secret message for him to try to figure out. The automan could write. That is why Hugo had a suspicion that his father left a message for him. Who knows how many inventions Hugo will have along the way. Will Hugo get his notebook back and fix the automan or will everything be lost? As I always say, read the book to find out!
I recommend this book to readers who can keep their heads straight when it’s confusing at times. If you get confused easily, WARNING, do not read this book! But if you can take confusing things and figure out a solution before you get too confused, just try it. Maybe you’ll like it.
A few helpful things I like to say about the books I read:
“Run and Get Mom” (how I describe the scariness factor):
There were a few scary parts, but nothing I couldn’t handle.
“Yucky-Lovey Stuff” (how I describe the romance factor):
Zero. None. Nada.
I give this book 4 1/2 wands.
Even though it was a little confusing, I loved how it saved the best part until the very end and it had a little “Sixth Months Later” section in the back.
