The Invention of Hugo Cabret

The Invention of Hugo Cabret

A couple of months ago I was enchanted by Brian Selznick's
Wonderstruck, a book that beautifully combines narrative with
enchantingly detailed pictures to tell a compelling story. Recently I
found another one of Selznick's works and checked it out. I found it
mysterious and magical.
Hugo, the young protagonist of The Invention of Hugo Cabret,
lives in a small apartment in a Paris train station. His uncle, in
charge of maintaining the station's many clocks, has disappeared.
Hugo keeps the clocks going and collects the checks. He fears that if
his deception is uncovered he will be sent to an orphanage. Of course
since he has no way of cashing the checks he must steal food to survive.
Sounds like a pretty bleak existance, right? It would be if
Hugo did not have hope. He believes his salvation lies in a broken
automaton (robot) that he rescued from a burned down museum. It is in
the form of a man with pen in hand. Hugo also has a notebook of
drawings his dead clock maker father gave him. If he can get the
automaton to work and see what it has to write he will have the answer
to all his questions.
Complications begin to arise when a toy seller (Georges) from
whom Hugo has been stealing pieces for his automaton takes the
notebook and claims to have burned it. Isabelle, Georges' adopted
godchild, claims that it is intact. She becomes an unlikely ally in
his quest. If you wish to learn about their adventures...
...you'd better plan on tracking down the book because I have no
intention of spoiling it for you.
On a personal note, I am anxiously waiting to see if I get an
interview for the library job, thinking what questions might be asked
and what the best answers would be.
A great big shout out goes out to the people who are hopefully my
future coworkers.
Julia Emily Hathaway



Sent from my iPod