The Invention of Hugo Cabret - Brian Selznik

This book is really cool for one significant thing - about 50% of the story is told with absolutely beautiful pencil drawings interspersed within the written story. The story itself was pretty standard: a young boy is alone in the world and carrying secrets, until he meets an old man and a girl. They dislike each other at the beginning, but come to know and love each other. The book takes place in Paris in 1931, and filmmaker Georges Melies (there should be two accents in that last name, but I don't know how to make them) is one of the main characters.

There is a lot of miscommunication and missed connections between the characters at the beginning, and a lot of the story is sad and anxiety-riddled. The end is happy, though, and I suppose that makes it all right. I feel like the real story is told in the drawings, and the worded parts of the book are there to give context. It was overall a fascinating read, and very quick. I read the whole thing in about 2 hours (which is why I'm doing a second post in as many days).

Because a large part of the story is told in pictures, the age range for this book is vast. There are some big words (automaton, anyone?) but the concepts are simple and the book itself is gorgeous. And the parts that filled me with anxiety would probably not bother most kids, or adults for that matter.

Special thanks to A and B (and their dad) for loaning me this book!