The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick

From the book jacket:

"Orphan, clock keeper, and thief. Hugo lives in the walls of a busy Paris train station, where his survival depends on secrets and anonymity. But when his world suddenly interlocks—like the gears of the clocks he keeps—with an eccentric, bookish girl and a bitter old man who runs a toy booth in the train station, Hugo’s undercover life and his most precious secret are put in jeopardy. 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."

This is a special book. It is as much illustration as it is words, making it like a graphic novel, but the words and pictures do not occur on the same pages. The illustrations are presented on two-page spreads and are beautifully detailed black and white drawings framed liked stills from a movie, which is effective because the story involves early film (Georges Melies and his “A Trip to the Moon”). It is over 500 pages long but reads quickly because of the many illustrations, and some of the text pages have only a few sentences in the very center. What a beautiful genre-jumping book. What a lovely way to introduce to a 9- to 12-year-old of today the films of over a hundred years ago. I'm not quite finished reading it. Let's see how the story holds up. . .