Young Adult Fiction: The Invention of Hugo Cabret

Picture Book Review
LS 5603.20/Spring 2010
S. Vardell

1. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Selznick, Brian. The Invention of Hugo Cabret. New York, New York: Scholastic Press, 2007. ISBN 13:9780439813785

2. PLOT SUMMARY
In this creative picture book/graphic novel, Brian Selznick tells the story of a young man struggling with life's many unanswered questions and a coincidence that finally leads him, and other characters in the book, to an internal, as well as external resolution. The despairing situation of the main character creates empathy, concern and caring drawing the reader into the experiences and challenges of the story. The result of this dual journey relates to anyone who has found themselves in an unsure situation seeking answers for things that might not have answers.

3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS
As the writer, Brian Selznick uses complication to start the plot rising. Early on, Hugo, the main character, is conflicted about his needs and wants. He also struggles to acquire the means of survival that will aid him physically and mentally. Hugo actively engages in unsavory behavior for self-preservation and in an unusual task he feels destined to finish. The journey connects him with the future and aids in healing his past, while at the same time impacting other lives that have gone astray. The heartfelt nature of Selznick's writing immediately grabs the reader's interest and sustains that interest till the end.

Brian Selznick the illustrator creates a unique experience while reading this novel. Using 284 pages of pencil drawings, he has created a "silent film" experience. This format foreshadows the ultimate discovery in the biographically based novel. The setting is a Paris train station's underground. The main character's life revolves around the responsibility of accurately keeping "time" for the station's clockworks. The illustrations, all in pencil with a contour, crosshatching technique, and the black pages reflect the dark places the character must live in the underground station and his unsettled mind. The pacing of the book is driven by these original sequential illustrations that communicate emotion and relay action within Hugo's personal journey.

The book is a feast for the eyes and, as the time moves forward, reading this story makes the heart beat a little faster. All necessary journeys in life, even the ones we don't know we are embarking on, take time, persistence, faith and determination. The Invention of Hugo Cabret is an excellent resource, not only in literary elements, but as a conversation for readers to have with themselves and others who have experienced moments of self-doubt and confusion of purpose.

4. AWARDS WON AND REVIEW EXCERPT(S)
Caldecott Medal Winner 2008
Junior Library Guide Selection
2007 National Book Award Finalist, Young People's Literature

Starred Review from PUBLISHERS WEEKLY: "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."

Starred Review from SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL: " 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 1930's Paris."

5. CONNECTIONS
• Early French artist and cinematic pioneer Georges Melies

• Films and drawings by George Melies

Wikipedia: http:///en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georges_M%C3%A9li%C3%A8s

• Magicians and the world of automata

Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automaton

• Books Written by Brian Selznick

THE HOUDINI BOX (Oct. 7, 2008)

THE BOY OF A THOUSAND FACES (Aug. 21, 2001)

THE ROBOT KING (Sept. 1995)

• Books Illustrated by Brian Selznick

THE DINOSAURS OF WATERHOUSE HAWKINS by Barbara Kerley

THE DOLL PEOPLE by Laura Godwin

• Websites