Book: The Invention of Hugo Cabret (Brian Selznick)

Dec 8, 2011 by Brigitte B. Zabak

Although Brian Selznick’s tale of a young boy living in Paris in the 1930′s was published almost five years ago, I didn’t stumble across it until a few months ago. I was killing some time before a movie in a bookstore that will remain nameless when I happened upon this gem of a book. There was a welcoming display at the front of the store that showcased both The Invention of Hugo Cabret and Selznick’s newest release Wonderstruck.

I was instantly drawn to these books. They were enormous in size and adorned with intriguing book jackets. I picked up Hugo and was giddy with excitement when I saw all of the hand-drawn illustrations. It reminded me of books I read growing up. There was so much potential waiting for me within the pages of this YA novel. I couldn’t wait to start reading.

I won’t go into too much detail about the actual story but the basic premise involves a young boy, recently orphaned, who lives inside a small room in a Paris train station. He comes from a family of clock keepers and finds himself taking care of all the clocks in the train station after his uncle disappears as way to avoid suspicion and remain living within the train station’s walls.

There was one thing fueling Hugo’s days and it was a mission he had adopted from his father – to repair a one-of-a-kind mechanical man known as an automaton. It is in fixing this rarity that Hugo hopes to reconnect with his father. And it is this mission that leads Hugo on an unexpected and life-altering journey.

I was smitten from page one. The visual component of the book is so magical and so breathtaking that it’s hard not to be swept up into the story the moment you start reading. Novels like Hugo are exactly why I continue to read YA novels well into my adulthood. They help us retain the sense of wonder that real life works very hard to suck out of you on a daily basis. Books like these help comfort us and remind us of a time when everything seemed possible, and reading them can spark ideas and creativity in ways other outlets just can’t evoke.

Reading Hugo also reminded me of the books I grew up reading as a child – the ones that felt like a big hug every time I read them. The books that fueled my imagination most often. For me, those books were The Secret Garden, A Wrinkle In Time, and No Children, No Pets. These books made me feel invincible, and in some ways still do.

Do you have a book from your childhood that has never lost its magic? Feel free to share in the comments below!