Hugo Cabret is a 12-year-old boy living alone in a Paris train station in the 1930s, where he cares for the clocks. He tries to repair an automaton left to him by his father, and gets caught stealing parts by the owner of a toy shop, Georges Melies. Hugo discovers that Melies was actually a famous early filmmaker. With Melies' goddaughter Isabelle, Hugo helps Melies regain his passion for filmmaking and finds a new home with them.
Hugo Cabret is a 12-year-old boy living alone in a Paris train station in the 1930s, where he cares for the clocks. He tries to repair an automaton left to him by his father, and gets caught stealing parts by the owner of a toy shop, Georges Melies. Hugo discovers that Melies was actually a famous early filmmaker. With Melies' goddaughter Isabelle, Hugo helps Melies regain his passion for filmmaking and finds a new home with them.
Original Description:
A book reprot of the book "The Invention of Hugo Cabrret"
Hugo Cabret is a 12-year-old boy living alone in a Paris train station in the 1930s, where he cares for the clocks. He tries to repair an automaton left to him by his father, and gets caught stealing parts by the owner of a toy shop, Georges Melies. Hugo discovers that Melies was actually a famous early filmmaker. With Melies' goddaughter Isabelle, Hugo helps Melies regain his passion for filmmaking and finds a new home with them.
Hugo Cabret is a 12-year-old boy living alone in a Paris train station in the 1930s, where he cares for the clocks. He tries to repair an automaton left to him by his father, and gets caught stealing parts by the owner of a toy shop, Georges Melies. Hugo discovers that Melies was actually a famous early filmmaker. With Melies' goddaughter Isabelle, Hugo helps Melies regain his passion for filmmaking and finds a new home with them.
Cabret Author : Brian Selznik Genre : Realistic Fiction Writing style : Sequential art and traditional novel Setting and Time : Paris, 1930s Summary A young boy name Hugo Cabret lived in a train station in Paris all alone. He would hide behind the big clock and watch over all the happenings below him. He spent his days making sure that all the clock in the station were moving properly. He had to fix them sometimes and to do this, he had to steal parts from a toy shop owned by a grumpy old man.
One day, the old man caught Hugo as he was stealing a
little mechanical mouse and took from the boy both the mouse and a little notebook with peculiar drawings, that Hugo’s father had left him when he died. The boy barely escaped the old man and the Station Inspector who was called to arrest him. In order to get his notebook back, Hugo followed the old man outside the strain station, through the snow, to his house. There he met Isabelle, the man’s goddaughter, and lived with him and his wife, who promised to help him get his notebook back.
That night, Hugo remembered his father, who had
worked at the museum and had gifted him the notebook, full od drawing of a peculiar object – an automaton , a complicated machine that looked like a man writing at a desk. In order for the machine to work, a small heart shaped key was needed to wind it up. Unfortunately, his father died in a fire at the museum. Later, Hugo found the automaton among the rubble and took it to the trains station, and spent his time trying to repair it. After his father’s death, Hugo went to live with his uncle, who was responsible for keeping the cloaks in the station running. One day his uncle disappeared, leaving Hugo all alone to take care of everything, which Hugo did in secret for fear that if he was discovered, he would be sent to an orphanage.
As the days passed, Hugo tried to get his notebook back
from the old man, and in doing so, he started working there as well, fixing things, cleaning and helping. At the same time, he started a friendship with Isabelle, who took him to the library and to the movies. Hugo discovered that the key to make the automaton work was on a chain around Isabelle’s neck.
When the two children started up the
machine, they discovered that it was not writing, but drawing a scene from an old movie, one that Hugo had seen with his father a long time ago. At the bottom of the drawing was the name of the old man from the shop, George Melies. Trying to uncover the mystery, Hugo and Isabelle find many drawings of movies scenes in a closet in George’s house. It turned out that the man from the toy shop had been a famous movie director, one of the very first to ever exist, but he was unable to financially support his company. After the death of a very close friend and his wife ( Isabelle’s parents), he stopped making movies. It was him who built the automaton.
With the help of Jeanne, George’s wife,
one of Isabelle’s friends and an art teacher, Hugo convinced George to show his movies again, and he played for them his most successful one, about a rocket landing on the face of the moon, the same one from the automaton’s drawing.
In the end, George and Jeanne took
Hugo to live with them and Isabelle, finally giving him a loving home. Characters Hugo Cabret A twelve year old boy who was left in charge of the clocks at a trains station after the death of his father and the disappearance of his uncle.
He is very smart and knows how to
work with mechanical parts, and how to survive on his own. Isabelle A young girl who was adopted by George and Jeanne after the death of her parents. She likes to read books and see movies, is friendly and likeable. She also knows how to pick locks and helped to uncovered the mystery of the automaton. George Melies The owner of a toy shop located in the train station and a former movie director who was helped by the children to show his movies again after his company failed the first time.
Jeanne Melies The wife of George and his muse. She loves and protects her husband very much, takes care of Isabelle and helps both her and Hugo in their quest to discover the truth. Other characters:
Etienne Friend of Isabelle who worked at the movie theatre and let her see movies for free.
Station inspector Employee of the train station who chased after Hugo for stealing, but ultimately saved his life from being run over by a train. Discussion Questions • What is the main message of Hugo? • What have we learned about Hugo’s life, his routines, his fears, his problems? • How does the absence of family affect Hugo? • What is Isabelle's purpose in Hugo? • Do movies hold more than a sentimental value to Hugo, who seems to associate them with his father? • How is the book a piece of culture and art in itself? • Is stealing ever acceptable? • We all have special talents – do you know what yours is? • How important is friendship to you? • What would it be like to have to work at an early age to survive?
