Summary

A Very Brief Introduction - Professor H. Alcofrisbas explains that the reader is about to meet a boy named Hugo Cabret, and that his story unfolds in 1931 in Paris, France, having once discovered a mysterious drawing that would change his life. Alcofrisbas explains that, as the reader turns the page, they will see Hugo moving through a crowded train station, and that the reader should approach the book as though the reader was watching a movie.

Part 1, Chapter 1 – It is the winter of 1931. A boy named Hugo Cabret moves through a crowded Paris train station, makes his way down a deserted corridor, and sneaks into an air vent. He carries a small notebook in his pocket. Inside the vents, he climbs through the station to a massive grandfather clock, from which he looks out through the number five at...