Midnight for Charlie Bone

November 11, 2002
The first in the projected Children of the Red King series, this paper-over-board British fantasy reads like ersatz Harry Potter. Charlie Bone, a likable "ordinary" boy of about 10, lives with his loving widowed mom and her mother, a salt-of-the-earth type, and his foreboding but wealthy paternal relations, who are "endowed" (with psychic abilities) and who watch Charlie for signs of the Yewbeam family gift. When Charlie suddenly begins to "hear" subjects in photographs, the Yewbeams delightedly pack him off to Bloor's Academy for similarly gifted children. Before he enrolls, however, voices from photographs lead him into a mystery, pointing to a suspicious baby "adoption" and involving clues about his own father's past; while these are the most original elements here, they, too, are familiar. At the Hogwarts-like Bloor's, Charlie is thrust into an ongoing struggle of good vs. evil, accompanied by new friends (an albino orphan, a drama diva and a musician) and confronted with mesmerizing foes (chiefly, the scion of the power-mad Bloor family). Nimmo writes solidly, but her powers of invention (shown in, for example, her Griffin's Castle) cannot withstand the comparison she invites with J.K. Rowling. Next in the series, The Time Twister. Ages 12-up.

February 1, 2003
Gr 4-6-When he is 10 years old, Charlie discovers that he is able to look at photographs and hear conversations and even thoughts that were taking place at the time the photo was taken, a legacy of his ancestor the Red King, whose descendants all have different magical abilities. Charlie hears one conversation that sets him on a search for a girl who has been missing for years, and when he begins attending Bloor's Academy, an elite boarding school for the rich and the endowed (as the Red King's descendants are called), his life becomes full of intrigue and danger. Charlie, his friend Benjamin, and other allies try to unlock the secrets of a mysterious case that could get the girl back, while the sinister Bloors and Charlie's ghastly relatives who are endowed try to thwart them. While the parallels with Harry Potter are obvious, this fantasy has its own charms, chief among them being the endoweds' often-odd magical abilities. The writing is deft, most of the characters are intriguing, and Charlie Bone is an appealing boy. The story is marred by some predictability, and the role of the endowed in this otherwise contemporary, unmagical society is not clear. Many aspects of the book are not fully thought out, making it less compelling than it might be. However, this is the first of a projected series, so it will be interesting to see if some of these vague points are resolved. A flawed but worthwhile offering for avid fantasy fans.-Eva Mitnick, Los Angeles Public Library

January 1, 2003
Gr. 4-6. These days stories about schools for budding magicians are inevitably compared to the Harry Potter books. Indeed, British author Nimmo's creation, Bloor's Academy "for gifted children," bears some resemblance to Hogwart's School, but the story itself is quite different. Seemingly ordinary Charlie Bone suddenly discovers that he can hear the thoughts of people in photographs, a talent that dour Grandma Bone and her three baleful sisters work to bend to their own ends by sending him to Bloor's and to its sinister headmaster. It's not an easy year for Charlie despite the friends he makes. Too many people have it in for him as he's swept into an age-old battle being waged by descendants of a powerful king of long ago. A mysterious box, a missing girl, a strange man who flits in and out in the company of three brightly colored cats, and various villains all figure into Charlie's exciting, fast-paced adventure tale, which happily is the first book in planned quintet called Children of the Red King. Harry Potter's myriad fans will be well pleased.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2003, American Library Association.)

September 8, 2003
An air of suspense appropriately colors British actor Beale's deft reading of Nimmo's diverting fantasy—the first in a planned trilogy—about a boy possessed of unusual powers and the odd mysteries that swirl around him. Young Charlie is confused when he hears voices coming from a photograph, but his paternal grandmother takes pleasure in this development, believing Charlie is endowed with the family talent for magic. It's quickly determined that Charlie will attend Bloor's Academy for gifted children—where "gifted" takes on a whole new meaning. At his new school Charlie finds himself trying to unravel the complicated story of a fellow student, someone believed to have appeared in one of the photos that Charlie has heard. Beale sounds innocent, curious or sinister as the case may be while he portrays young Charlie and his friend Ben, plus Charlie's sour grandmother Bone and a coven of great-aunts. The result is good fun, just in time for Harry Potter listeners who need a fresh fix of adventure. One note: A few of the Britishisms that appear on the recording do not appear in the American print edition of the book. Ages 9-up.

July 1, 2003
When Charlie learns that he can hear the voices of the subjects of old photographs, Grandma Bone sends him to Bloor's Academy, an art school for magically talented descendants of a near-mythical Red King. While there, Charlie makes friends and sides with the good descendants against the wicked ones. Abrupt pacing and amateurish style drag down this otherwise intriguing story.

(Copyright 2003 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)