Ratings

Content Ratings based on a 0-5 scale where
0 = no objectionable content and
5 = an excessive or disturbing level of content

Guide to Rating System

LANGUAGE

VIOLENCE

SEXUAL CONTENT

ADULT THEMES

2008 Caldecott Medal Award Winner

Ratings Explanation

Violence:  Hugo is treated roughly after robbing a store.  Hugo is seriously hurt from his hand being slammed in a door.  Isabelle breaks her leg falling off of a chair. Hugo is almost run over by a train while trying to run away from his pursuers.

Adult Themes:  Hugo and Isabelle sneak into the movies without paying.  Isabelle’s  parents died when she was a baby.  Hugo’s father is burned to death after being accidentally locked in a museum that caught on fire.  Hugo is orphaned after the accident and is sent to live with his alcoholic uncle.  His uncle disappears and Hugo must learn to survive on his own.  He steals his food from local stores.  The toy shop owner’s health is affected by his past.  He has a breakdown.  Hugo is put in jail for a short time.  His uncle’s body is found at the bottom of a river.

Summary
After Hugo’s father dies in an accidental fire, Hugo is given to his alcoholic uncle who lives in the local train station and maintains their clocks.  One day his uncle leaves and never comes back.  Hugo doesn’t want anyone to know he is alone and decides to keep up appearances by maintaining the clocks himself.   His hope for living lies in trying to repair an automaton his father found in the museum where he worked.  Hugo is convinced the robotic man holds some secret answer to a happier future.  Hugo relies on stealing food and parts from local stores.  One day he is caught by the toy store owner.  A young girl, living with the owner, befriends Hugo and tries to help him discover the mystery of the automaton.  They discover the toy store owner is the famous Georges Melies, a magician and maker of early films.  Hugo and Georges find their lives mysteriously intertwined and end up becoming the answer of hope that the other had been searching for.

This book amazed me.  Selznick uniquely combines 525 pages of  illustrations and text with a movie like feel to tell this amazing story.  The message was tender, the story suspenseful, and the artwork beautiful.  My favorite quote from the book is when Hugo is looking down from the clock tower with Isabella and says, “I like to imagine that the world is one big machine.  You know, machines never have any extra parts.  They have the exact number and type of parts they need.  So I figure if the entire world is a big machine,  I have to be here for some reason.  And that means you have to be here for some reason, too.”

©2010 The Literate Mother