The Invention of Hugo Cabret

I'd been hearing about this one for awhile, and it was sort of in the back of my mind as a must-read. When Stephens got it a week ago, I looked at the spine and figured I could wait a little longer--this sucker was over 500 pages, y'all! Sure, the Twilight books are on the long side, but they're sexy and delicious. This kids' book could never be as fast a read, I thought.

I glanced at the back cover material (the front was too gorgeous to ignore, see?)...




...and knew I couldn't wait:

"A cryptic drawing, a treasured notebook, a stolen key, a mechanical man, and a hidden message from Hugo's dead father form the backbone of this intricate, tender, and spellbinding mystery. With 284 pages of original drawings, and combining elements of picture book, graphic novel, and film, Brian Selznick breaks open the novel form to create an entirely new reading experience."

I began reading yesterday afternoon, blowing through the first hundred pages in well under an hour. It was hard to put down, but if I don't start a book during the weekend, I have to force myself to let it wait rather than depriving myself of too much sleep. I just finished today, and have such a warm, happy feeling. It's breathtaking, and you're free to linger on each drawing as long as you want, or go through them quickly--they further the story, so it's not just supplementary, and the artist makes even the drawings suspenseful as they follow, for example, Hugo running from the Station Master so his secrets aren't discovered.

It'll make you want to go take apart a clock and see if you can put it back together--or better yet, build a little man out of the gears.




Seriously, I want an Erector set now, and I curse that I sold my brand-new Eiffel Tower and Big Ben sets on eBay last year.

If you read this book, let me know what you thought!