Hugo is an orphan who works as a clock keeper and a robber. He lives within the confines of a popular Paris railway station, where he must keep his identity a secret to get by. Hugo’s covert life and his most valuable secret are jeopardized, though, when his world unexpectedly intersects with an odd, bookish girl and a bitter old man who works a toy kiosk in the station. This complex, touching, and enthralling mystery is built around a cryptic picture, a priceless notebook, a stolen key, a mechanical man, and a message from Hugo’s deceased father.
