The Invention of Hugo Cabret

The Invention of Hugo Cabret. 978-0-439-81378-5. Brian Selznick (Author & Illustrator). 2007. Caldecott Award. Age 13-15. White working class.

Synopsis:
Hugo is a young boy who has lost his father in a fire and is now forced to live with his uncle in the train station. Hugo becomes his apprentice and learns how to take care of all the clocks in the train station. One day Hugo's uncle disappears and Hugo takes on the responsibility of the clocks so he does not have to get taken away. To stay alive, he resorts to stealing food and is also stealing pieces for the automaton from the toy store. He gets caught by the owner and Hugo ends up working for him to make up for the stealing he has done. Hugo continues to work for the owner of the toy store because the owner has taken his precious notebook that his father had given him.

Through the story, Hugo gets to know the owner of the store, Georges Meilies and Isabelle, his goddaughter. Hugo and Isabelle find out that Georges Meilies was a movie maker and a magician. They work together to help Papa Georges remember and in the end Papa Georges is recognized for his work. Hugo then worked to make his own automaton and to become a magician.

This would be a great book to use to have students think about what they are good at and what they would like to do with their lives after school or even during school. I think it also helps students to see the importance of talking and can help the students open up if the time calls for it. It would be great in history too. There could be many things you could do to learn about the old movies and discuss how things change over time.

Critique:
The characterization was real and believable to me. I thought they acted like the children would back then and were the trouble makers young people can be. The plot was also one in which the problem was clear and you were led along as you read. It was difficult to put the book down because you wanted to know what would happen to Hugo and what the automaton had to write and it's significance. The author showed the story to you as well. Some pages were only drawings and then the written story picked up where the drawings left off. It was a wonderful way to read a story. It was not distracting at all to have the pictures in the middle of some points because it was refreshing to use pictures instead of words.

I think the author was trying to tell the readers that it is better to talk than to keep it all secret and locked up inside. It can do some damage to you as a person and can also get you into trouble with others and authorities. Once the characters, Hugo and Papa Georges began to talk things began to fall in line.