Although it's 551 pages long, this book just flies for the reader - over half of the pages are illustrations. It's a combination book, movie, graphic novel.... Try it out on those boys who think they can't read a "BIG" book. Hugo is an orphan who lives within the walls of a train station. His daily routine includes maintaining the correct time on the many station clocks. It also includes stealing to survive, and it also includes a secret. Hugo has a plan to solve a dark mystery that just might lead him to the truth about his father. That plan involves an automaton. But who has the "key" to this strange being? Winner of the 2008 Caldecott Award.