The Invention of Hugo Cabret
Brian Selznick (2007)
“An orphan hiding inside the walls of a Paris train station repairs a mechanical man — and unlocks the forgotten history of cinema itself.”
Short Summary
Hugo Cabret, a twelve-year-old orphan living secretly inside the walls of a 1930s Paris train station, maintains the station's clocks and works to repair a broken automaton — a mechanical man that was his father's last project. When a bitter old toyshop owner catches Hugo stealing parts, Hugo discovers that the old man is Georges Méliès, the forgotten pioneer of cinematic magic, and that the automaton holds the key to restoring Méliès' legacy and giving Hugo a home.
Detailed Summary
Hugo Cabret lives inside the walls of a Paris train station in the early 1930s. His father, a clockmaker and museum curator, died in a fire, and his uncle Claude — a drunk who maintained the station's clocks — took Hugo in to serve as his apprentice. When Uncle Claude disappeared (Hugo suspects he's...