Midnight For Charlie Bone (2003) - Plot & Excerpts
Now first let me get this out of the way. A lot of people think Charlie Bone is a downright rip-off of Harry Potter. I'm here to tell you that No, it is not. In fact it is very different. YES it does have a character who finds out he has a magical ability, and YES he gets sent to a school/academy where other children have these magical powers (although the majority of the children at the school don't have powers, and the powers don't involve wands and brooms). That's about all that is similar to Harry Potter in this series, and I find it sad how people won't give this series a try because of that. A "magical school" shouldn't be left only for Harry Potter, I believe it can be used in many different ways so that the idea never feels the same. And this is coming from a Harry Potter fan. Anyway... on with the review shall we? Charlie Bone is a story about a young boy who discovers he is "endowed", meaning, has a magical power, and can hear people in photographs. He is then forced by his grandma to go to Bloors Academy, a school for endowed children, as well as children who are just very smart. The children at the academy are split into three groups with their own color, judging by their endowed power or prodigy; blue for the musical, purple for the drama group, and green for the art group. All the children must wear a cape with the color of their group. Charlie Bone is set into the music group, although his power doesn't have to do with music but he has no other talent, so screw it, he's put in the music group. This academy does not seem similar to Hogwarts at all to me, as all the classes are basically normal such as English, math, music etc. The academy is run by the evil Bloor's family, and it's obvious they are keeping something secret from everyone. And of course, it is Charlie's job (as well as his friends and a family member) to reveal what the Bloor family is hiding. That's the basic storyline, without getting into spoilers, so now let's talk about if this book is good or not. It is obvious this book is for a young age, It even seems less dark and more basic then Harry Potter, So I would say it is a great book to start younger kids on. However, I believe this book can be enjoyed by any age, as I am 18 years old and I still thoroughly enjoyed my time reading Charlie Bone. Although I do feel that I would have liked it A LOT more if I was younger. When I started reading this book I knew what to expect, and I was in a 'mood' to read a easy and quick adventure fantasy novel. This book gave me exactly what I wanted, a cute, fast read, that took me on an adventure. I don't have all praise for this book, there is still a lot of things that could have been improved on. Let's start with the characters. The personalities for the characters were pretty basic and I found that I didn't really enjoy them that much and at times they seemed to lack emotion. Besides Charlie's uncle Paton. Uncle Paton is the best. I was already sort of expecting basic character design though, because this is a book that's leaned towards a young audience, but I still think it could have been better. The writing style was pretty good, although at times it switched character in the next paragraph and I feel it would have been better to make a pause in between switching characters by adding a line/sub-chapter type of thing. I'm not sure what it was about this book (maybe because it was a very easy read) but I found that I could picture every scene perfectly in my mind while I read, so I mean, that's good. The overall plot was good, but at times it seemed to be lacking, and I wish there was more fast paced adventure in between. With its flaws I still thoroughly enjoyed Midnight For Charlie Bone, and I will be continuing the series. I totally recommend Charlie Bone to any parent who would like to introduce their child to a new book, or just to anyone of any age who wants to read a quick, light-hearted (yet still somewhat dark) story. This book is not at all as good as Harry Potter, but it's still a great adventure
There were so many kids in the world, yet Charlie was one of them. A descendant of the Red King. The decedent's of the red king could do strange things. We call them the endowed. The endowed had powers such as controlling the weather, or reading the minds of people through pictures. These endowed kids have to go to a special school where they will be monitored about their powers. This school is called Bloor’s Academy run by the Bloor’s family. Dr. Bloor, Manfred Bloor, and Ezekiel Bloor. Bloor’s is also a school for geniuses in Art, Drama and Music. There is a girl who is lost. Her name was Emma. Lost from the truth. She thinks she is happy with a family who doesn’t love her. She was hypnotized at birth, and got separated from aunt Ms. Ingledew, and her father the inventor by the Bloors. Dr. Tolly. The only way she can be saved is by a special case made by her father before he died. Dr. Tolly’s Twelve Bells. The sounds little Emma heard while she was being hypnotized. The problem is, the case doesn’t have a key. Charlie’s aunts are always against him. His Yewbeam aunts. They teamed up with the Bloors to get the case that will wake her up. Asa Pike also teamed up with the Bloors. It seems like Charlie is outnumbered, but he is not alone. He has his Uncle Paton that can blow up light bulbs. He has Oliva Vertigo and Fidelio Gunn that are both child prodigy in the arts. Then he has his other endowed friends like Gabriel Silk, or Billy Raven. It is a war against the good and bad that his going on for a long time. The only problem is that no one was winning. The three paragraphs above is basically the entire book. In my opinion it is very hooking. But don’t get fooled. Charlie Bone is one of those books that is good for pleasure. This book should not be used for school work. Reason being is that it has very basic vocabulary. For example, instead of exclaimed, Jenny Nimmo would use said. Or instead of prodigy, she would say super smart. The idea of the story isn’t unique either. It is the usual fairy tale where the hero finds a problem, fights the bad guys, solve the problem, and wins. It’s not one of those stories where you think it a typical fairy tale, but then takes a big turn. But there is one thing people are saying on goodreads is this book is a lot like Harry Potter. I totally disagree. Yes there are the similarities like going to a special school. Having to adjust to your new ability. But I think Charlie Bone is a lot like X-men. (Yes the movie). Because Harry Potter is more like magic, and X-men and Charlie Bone is like super powers. I don’t know if Jenny Nimmo got her idea from J.K Rowling or from X-men, but if she did, she didn’t make it unique, original, or creative. But I do have to admit, Jenny did do a good job hooking me. When I was finding a book for my novel study, I remembered my 5th grade teacher saying Charlie Bone was a good book. I never looked at the book until my Novel Study. I read the back blurb and thought it was very hooking. I read the book only to be disappointed. So if I had to rate this book, on of one to ten, it would be a six out of ten, or three out of 5 stars. I rate this because it is Harry Potter in a more kiddy version.tThe theme that was shown throughout the book is always believe there is hope. In my opinion, I feel like Charlie is Commissioner James Gordon and the town he lives in is Gotham. James Gordon is always trying to find justice and always believing there is hope. Charlie is exactly the same way. When he heard the story of the missing baby, he tried to find the baby and serve justice. tThis book is a lot like those books where it’s so bad, you just want to keep reading. Like the comic in Diary of a Wimpy Kid. Greg dislikes it so much, he can’t stop reading. I don’t know if you would call that “engaging”. I do have to admit toward the end, it get a little hooking. But not hooking enough to keep on reading like theres no tomorrow. So I would say yes it is engaging.
What do You think about Midnight For Charlie Bone (2003)?
This is a really fun book. It does have some similarities to Harry Potter with the magical aspects and it being set in, I believe, England. However, there are more non-magical people in these books and the school is run by bad people, so it's not necessarily a good place to be. My 9-year-old daughter started reading this at school, so I thought I'd read them too to see what they're about. I read this first book in about 3 days, very fast read. It's an enjoyable story, though I figured a few things out from the clues in the story. I think those would be easier for an adult to pick out than a younger kid. I think these books will be a good starter point and stepping stone before my daughter starts the Harry Potter books.
—Nicole
The trouble with Charlie Bone is he's much more like Charlie Bucket than Harry Potter and let's be honest--Jenny Nimmo is enthusiastically trying to channel some of Rowling's magic, so this is a bit of a problem. As I've said before, the heroes of these series tend to fall into two camps: the Horatio Alger throwback (orphan/survivor with grit who eventually is rewarded for his selfless acts) and the preternaturally mature and intelligent youngster who makes the adults around him look like bumbling morons. Even though he is not an orphan, Charlie Bone falls unmistakably in the former category. His father is gone. His family is dysfuntional. It's likely he's getting lunch money stolen from him at lunch on a fairly regular basis. He discovers a magical predisposition and ends up getting packed off to a school for similarly gifted kids. Sound familiar?Unfortunately, Charlie never feels as fully fleshed-out as the boy he was undoubtedly modeled after. The characters feel gimmicky and not particularly relatable. Charlie's primary magical talent is somewhat interesting, but he doesn't get to use it to much purpose in the course of the book. Of the many Harry Potter wannabes out there, there are some that are at least entertaining if not particularly original. This series unfortunately, just feels like a watered down replica.
—Susan
This book was exponentially better than any of the J. K. Rowling Harry Potter books. It's obvious that Jenny Nimmo based her plot outline on the first Harry Potter book, but who cares? J. K. Rowling summarily lifted the plot & most of the goings-on in "Sorcerer's Stone" from the book "Mary Poppins" by P. L. Travers, & Rowling has never even received a slap on the wrist in any court of law for her outright plagarism. I think there are probably many new things under the sun, but no one in the 21st century has the guts to put it out there because they're too busy falling back on the tried-and-true million-copy-selling ideas.Ms. Nimmo's first book in the Charlie Bone series is much more appropriate for young people than any of the Rowling books that are put out there as "for children" (which they most certainly are not). It was entertaining, not too heavy & dark, & charmed me with the character of Runner Bean, the little loyal doggie. Guardian-angelic cats named after the Zodiac are another endearing device the author used.
—Kathie H
