Genre: Graphic NovelAwards: 2008 Randolph Caldecott Award, A New York Times Best Illustrated Book, A New York Times Bestseller, The Quill Award for Children's Chapter Book, An NCTE Notable Children's Book in the Language Arts, A Publishers Weekly Best Book, A Kirkus Reviews Best Book, A New York Public Library Best Book for Reading and Sharing
Summary: Twelve-year-old Hugo Cabret lives in the walls of a train station in Paris where he takes care of the station's clocks. When his spying through the clock vents is caught and he is found to be the one stealing from an old man's toy shop, he is ordered to empty his pockets. The Old Man takes the special notebook from Hugo and threatens to burn it. Hugo is saddened to have lost his magical notebook and goes about trying to get it back. He eventually has to work at the toy shop to pay back the Old Man just hoping to get his notebook back. There are secrets that keep getting revealed, including the identities of some of the charaters.
Reaction: The thought of reading this book was daunting when the number of pages reached more than 500! But with many of the pages being full-page or double-page-spread pictures, the reading was really fast. This was a fun read that students will gravitate toward once it is introduced to them so that they can see how accessible it is to them.
Recommended To: This book could be a good recommendation to any student from grades 4 through 12. There are many students who enjoy graphic novels and who would enjoy the adventure and mystery of this great book.
Book Hook: Do you like mysterious adventures? This book (which looks long, but is really full of more than 300 pictures) is for you. You will "read" quickly through the more than 500 pages.
2 comments:
As I commented on Brenda's blog, I am curious to see how students respond to this book. I like the format but actually the story didn't do much for me.
500+ pages sounds like a lot, even with pictures. Would this be a good pick for reluctant readers?
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