Midnight for Charlie Bone

Midnight for Charlie Bone

Author: Jenny Nimmo

Publisher: Egmont Books (2002)

ISBN: 0439474299

3 (out of 5) STARS

Summary: Charlie Bone discovers he is endowed with the special power of being able to hear the voices and thoughts of people in photographs. He becomes involved in the mysterious case of a disappearing baby.

Review: Charlie Bone lives with his mother, two grandmothers and a great uncle. Charlie’s father’s side of the family is descended from the Red King and they often have magical powers. Charlie discovers that he can hear the thoughts and voices of people in photographs. This newfound power leads Charlie on a quest to discover and safe a young girl that was captured as a baby.

Because of Charlie’s power he is sent to a special school called Bloor’s Academy. The majority of the students are simply gifted, bright students, but there are some like Charlie that are endowed with special powers. Like all good fantasy novels, some use their power for good like Charlie, while others use their power for evil.

I enjoyed this book and my daughter loved it. But I am left wondering. First, it seems a bit too Harry Potter for me. There are magical events and special powers, even a separate school which feels a lot like Hogwarts. They also have an evening quest with a ruined castle that felt like the maze event in Harry Potter. And yet, it was not as well written as Harry Potter.

Questions were not resolved solving the missing baby. Charlie was able to find the young girl and rescue her, but why was she captured and why was she put under a spell during her captivation period? Granted this book is but the first in a series, so maybe these questions will be answered later. Overall, I would still recommend it as an interesting fantasy book to tween readers. But Harry Potter would definitely be recommended first!