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Search - Midnight for Charlie Bone (Children of the Red King, Bk 1)
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Midnight for Charlie Bone (Children of the Red King, Bk 1) Author: |
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Book Description:
Charlie down't want to believe it. He can hear people in photographs talking. What's happening to him? Why now? Since his father died, Charlie Bone has lived with his mother and her mother, in the house of his other grandmother, Grandma Bone. Whilst looking at a picture of a couple with a baby and a cat, he suddenly discovers an extraordinary magical talent -- he can hear their voices. Although he tries to hide his new gift, Grandma Bone's scary sisters soon find out, and determine to send him to Bloor's Academy. Mr Onimous appears, and tell Charlie he must find the baby from the photograph, lost inside Bloor's. The mystery deepens when Charlie tries to return the picture to its rightful owner, a bookseller who gives him a heavy box, saying only that it was once swapped for a child. Charlie quickly finds life at Bloor's pretty tough, with its strict rules and the malevolent head boy, Manfred, set against him. He meets someone else with a gift, Gabriel Silk, who can pick up people's feeling from their clothes. Charlie asks about his father's tie, and Gabriel surprises him by saying his father is lost, not dead. Mr Onimous' cats have been involved in a mysterious fire at the school, and more frightening than that, Manfred's sinister gift is to be able to hypnotise people. Exploring at the weekend with new friends Olivia and Billy, Charlie overhears a conversation between Dr Bloor and Manfred. They discover the cats are eight hundred years old, and that Bloor and Manfred are keeping a girl under hypnosis. Charlie realises the girl from the photograph must be Emilia Moon and manages to awaken her using the box. The hypnotism cannot be proved to the authorities and the children will have to return next term, once more under the power of Dr Bloor.
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Top Member Book Reviews
Dana (
1 member(s) found this review helpful.
This book reminded me a lot of the Harry Potter series. Kid probably won't mind this at all, but as an adult, the lack of originality gets a little annoying at times. But perhaps it's part of that "imitation is the sincerest form of flattery" thing on the author's part...
The term "endowed" tends to also make me snicker on occasion. I think the author could've found a better word to describe the magic-like talent that some of the characters have.
Overall, it's a readable book if you don't notice that it has a lot of similarities to authors such as J.K. Rowling, Pierce Anthony and I'm sure many others I haven't read yet or notice right off the bat.
Please Rate these Book Reviews
Diana L. (I was expecting a Harry Potter knockoff and got something surprisingly different. The characters are well-drawn, if only occasionally one-dimensional, but the villains, Charlie's great aunts and paternal grandmother, are so ridiculously nasty you will sometimes wonder why anyone puts up with them at all. These read fast and will entertain younger readers very well. Adults may have a harder time not projecting into the story how they'd get rid of the nasty aunts and grandmother...
Even as an adult, I enjoyed this book for a little fun, light reading. The first few chapters were difficult to get through, because there are definitely a LOT of similarities to Harry Potter. However, if you can stick with it, by the middle of the book you will start forgetting about the similarities and begin accepting Charlie's world as its own special place!
Janis C. (Charlie doesn't want to believe it. He can hear people talking in photographs. What' happening to him? Why now?
Charlie doesn't want to believe it.
He can hear people talking in photographs.
What's happening to him?
Why Now?
The mysterious and magical powers of the Red King have been passed down through his descendants. These gifts, some evil and some good, turn up unexpectedly in someone who has no idea where they came from. This is what happened to Charlie Bone....
Charlie doesn't want to believe it when he discovers that he can hear the thoughts of people in photographs. But his horrible aunts are delighted-- it means that he is one of the chosen and must attend the Bloor's Academy for gifted children. Once there, Charlie realizes that some of his classmates have equally mysterious powers, and soon Charlie is involved in uncovering the mysterious past of one of them.
Another of my son's books. This was a great first book of a series.
Your Harry Potter fans will love this. Charlie can hear people talking in photographs, and his aunts are delighted because this means he is one of the "chosen". Great for upper elementary or junior high kids.
The mysterious and magical powers of the Red King have been passed down through his descendents. These gifts, some evil and some good, turn up unexpectedly in someone who has no idea where they came from. This is what happened to Charlie Bone...
Charlie doesn't want to believe it when he discovers that he can hear the thoughts of pepole in photographs. But his horrible aunts are delighted -- it means that he is one of the chosen and must attend the Bloor's Acedemy for gifted children. Once there, Charlie realizes that some of his classmates have equally mysterious powers, and soon Charlie is involved in uncovering the mysterious past of one of them.
Charlie doesn't want to believe it. He can hear people talking in photographs. What's happening to him? Why now? The mysterious and magical powers of the Red King have been passed down through his descendants. These gifts, some evil and some good, turn up unexpectedly in someone who has no idea where they came from. This is what happened to Charlie Bone...Charlie doesn't want to believe it when he discovers that he can hear the thoughts of people in photographs. But his horrible aunts are delighted - it means that he is one of the chosen and must attend the Bloor's Academy for gifted children. Once there, Charlie realizes that some of his classmages have equally mysterious powers, and soon Charlie is involved in uncovering the mysterious past of one of them.
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