Charlie Bone And The Invisible Boy (2004) - Plot & Excerpts
This book had the same strengths and weaknesses, really, of the first two: fun characters, interesting settings, bad writing. I found it a bit episodic: Charlie and friends uncover a new problem to solve, and another, and another . . . I also took issue with the weak villains.It's funny: as a kid, I hated having characters killed off, ever. Now, probably due to the Harry Potter series, I just can't take an evil character seriously - not just a bully, I mean, but an evil character - unless s/he successsfully kills someone. Intent is not good (bad?) enough. Someone has got to be stone-cold before I go "whoah, that was evil." Of course, it may be that I simply haven't often seen non-deadly villainy done well. I think that if Grandma Bone and the aunts were taken more seriously by the protagonists of these books, I'd take them more seriously. I can see that they have bad intentions, but they seem not to use their whole abilities to carry them out. They are also much too easily - and humorously - defeated when the situation calls for it. They always respond "Ooh, just you wait!" and never actually get even in any meaningful, let alone permanent, way.As a writer, I'm bothered most by two things in the author's style: overdone descriptions and POV-hopping. Both of these seem like lazy ways to get the reader to know what the author wants them to know. I think I object partly because it's so easy that, in a way, I think it's what all of us want to do: when you see a character clearly in your mind, you want to give a description of that character so the reader sees the same thing. In this book, for the first time, I came across what I'd heard creative writing professors insist could happen: description actually slowed and inhibited my ability to form a mental picture. It certainly didn't help the action.POV-hopping, too, seems self-indulgent on the author's part. I'm all right with the little family histories and character bios at the front of the book, though they might be better if worked into the story. As there are a lot of characters and clearly much planning has taken place, I can cut the author some slack here. However, she not only jumps into the POV of whoever she likes - sometimes for just a sentence or two in a paragraph of someone else's POV - she also lets some viewpoints include digressions into the characters' backstories, which they have no reason to be currently considering. Whether little things like the fact that Lysander's mother is pregnant or page-and-a-half descriptions of how Cook came to the castle, these stall the story. I've tried to fit the writing into "omniscient POV," but I'm more inclined to call it "third-person distant, but psychic." There's a lot more "he felt/she thought" stuff than actual showing of characters' thoughts and feelings.As a minor but persistent point, I simply do not buy the total lack of not only swear words but any sort of substitute. Characters who are angry - furious - and characters in life-or-death situations - are saying "darn" and "yikes." Frequently. If they're reeeeally upset, they might let slip a "drat." Seriously? I could believe that one or a few of the children don't use bad language (don't know it/believe it's wrong/were taught not to use it/etc.). Same goes for the other characters, really; plenty of adults don't swear much, though I think rage and/or serious danger would evoke strong language from most of them. Here's the thing: "strong language" doesn't have to be the conventional swear words. I understand an author's desire to avoid those. There are other ways. You can invent new swears - the Artemis Fowl books do this with d'arvit, and the show "Battlestar Galactica" even has its own substitute for the "F" word. In some settings, you can get away with words now accepted (at least in American English), such as "bloody." To me, repeatedly using "darn" - even for angry adult villains - seems like a lack of imagination.If you wonder why I'm still reading the series, I will cite again the fun characters and settings, as well as the fact that I am sort of a series-finisher. The books aren't hard, and I believe there are just five, so I'll probably read the last two.
Once again, Charlie Bone has proven an enjoyable diversion. The question of invisibility must always come up in any good magical series, and the treatment of the theme here was fascinating. I've never thought about it before, but there is something inherently deceitful about hiding one's presence, be it in darkness or actual disappearance. Thus, powers of invisibility could be seen as evil and undesirable, which angle I've never considered.It's also interesting to consider that this is the second time that misfortune has befallen a character just because he was curious. It's interesting that these curious characters also seem to be fairly helpless when it comes to resolving their situation. Ollie didn't do anything to help, yet it was pretty clear that he wasn't being watched very closely, so it would have been fairly simple for him to play a more active role in his rescue. To me, curiosity and cleverness seem to go hand in hand, so he ought to have been more forthcoming with suggestions for a solution.Pros: I am SO glad they have finally started making up with Billy. I could sense all along that he really belongs on the good side. But upon closer reflection, I realize that Billy has needed to engage in this development to realize that even though he is small and alone and scared, he still has the power to resist the opposition and make a difference. He's not just a weaselly little spy whose services are given to the force which provides the best benefit.While it was a bit frustrating, the Yewbeam castle encounter for Patton was a really good move; I hope this means that he will become a more active force who is in control of his endowment. His taking a stand against his sisters has been really fun to watch. I'm not sure how I feel about the attempt to test his "relationship" with Julia. I think there is enough instability in Patton's life and it would be really good to just allow that to be the one good thing in his life, perhaps even the significant driving motivation.Cons: I was surprised by the coat-turning of Scarpo; that was unexpected, but definitely not unwelcome. However, I wish that the wand would have been a more prominent presence if it was going to be introduced as belonging to Charlie and being so powerful. It needed to be more important to the plot development and conflict that it was. As it stands, it was almost more trouble than it was worth, what with letting Scarpo and the mouse out and the havoc it wreaked on the city, etc.I wanted the explanation and denouement of Mr. Boldova's situation to be more clear. All of a sudden, he just appears with his memory intact from the Aunt's burning house? I'm not convinced. And how was it so easy to kill a shape-shifter? We can just electrocute them? It seems that, if that were a way to kill her, she would have been more wary of being next to such appliances, especially when she is intimately aware of Patton's endowment.Cons notwithstanding, this was still a plausible plot line and an entertaining story.
What do You think about Charlie Bone And The Invisible Boy (2004)?
This is a good book i think. It is about this guy who found a invisible boy. He tries to find out what happened to him. He has many people that try to get him on the bad side. He finds what did it to the little boy. I am not going to tell you. You will have to read the book. He has to sneak out to give hime food. In this book Charlie has many enemies. They all want them on there side because of his talent. he can look into pictures and the pictures will talk to him. If he stares at it long enough he will start to go into the picture. Well his mind will anyway, not his body. This book has a lot of action in it. it goes back to Bloors Academy. It is like a old dirty castle. They have a matron that is supposed to keep every one in there dorms when they are sleeping, but she doesn't do that. When she goes by and shuts off the light she leaves and goes to sleep. Then you can just sneak out. You can get caught by the Manfred. he has a talent where he can hypnotize people. By staring into there eyes.
—Grady L
I thought this book was superb compared to the books before. The rating I would give is 8/10, because I liked the characters and how they had different things about them that stood out from characters in other books - like Ollie Sparks, he is completely invisible except for his toe. I also liked the story, a boy named Charlie sees an invisible boy, and tries to make him escape! Who could think of that!? Jenny Nimmo did not add a lot of humor. In my opinion the humor pulls the story together, and this book could’ve used some more . I also thought that Jenny Nimmo should have added more details. On some parts I got very confused. But, all in all this book was good.To read the rest of the review, click here
—The SMART Book Club
Charlie Bone and the Invisible Boy by Jenny Nimmo is a fantastic book. If you have read the first two books, Midnight for Charlie Bone, and Charlie Bone and the Time Twister you will love the third. Charlie Bone and the Invisible Boy continues the story of Charlie's experiences at Bloor's Academy. In this adventure there are some new changes. There is a new art teacher, and a new student. Charlie and Emma soon discover that the new art teacher has a secret to hide. Before there was a student named Ollie Sparks always seemed to pry into business that didn't involve him and was made invisible by Ezekiel Bloor. Charlie and his friends find him and promise to make him visible again. Can they do it?
—Emma Heckman
