Midnight for Charlie Bone

Product Information

Chekhov's Gunman: Mr. Pilgrim, who in the fifth book is revealed to be Lyell Bone, Charlie's ten-years-estranged father. He's also the Red Knight.

However, as an adult, I can't say that this was an exceptional read. The plot was extremely stilted and jumpy, the characters were flat and totally underdeveloped, and the writing was-excluding the fact that this is indeed a middle grade fiction- waaaaay too juvenile. I could honestly believe that this was just a really long children's book, if the author had decided to include pictures. The sentence structure reminded me of those books for tiny children (toddlers?) that used simple rhyming words such as "cat", "bat", or "hat" to teach the english language. Well, I don't have the latest one, but I just finished books 1-5. Lots of similarities with Harry Potter, but this series is targeted toward readers who are a bit younger. Charlie Bone is a young boy who discovers that he can hear pictures talking. Once his aunts discover his talent, they send him to Bloor's Academy, a creepy private school where he will study with kids who are rich and/or gifted in music, art, or drama and/or endowed with magical talents. Each book tends to focus on someone who has been held hostage by the evil members of the Bloor or Yewbeam families. Charlie and the good endowed children rescue various victims from the bad endowed children. Dr. Saltweather is immune to water. He becomes headmaster to Bone Academy (renamed after the Bloors left).

Publication Order of The Children of the Red King Books

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. Yes, there is an 11 year old boy who has a magical “ability”. Yes, there is a special school for children with these abilities. Apart from that, the story is quite different. I had to push the Harry Potter thought out of my head and start thinking Charlie Bone, because wherever I got that idea…I was wrong…and it was wrong of me to continue reading with that thought in my head. It May Help You on Your Quest: In the second book, Miss Ingledew gives Charlie a Welsh word dictionary which Paton had in his possession when he was run over. It ends up being the key to using Skarpo's wand. Hypnotize the Captive: Essentially what Harken does to Amy Bone in the fifth book, to ensure that Lyell doesn't wake up from his trance. Once again I return to you with another comparison to Harry Potter. I recently read the book Midnight for Charlie Bone by Jenny Nimmo.Before I read this book most people told me it was just like Harry Potter , but I hate to disappoint once again this is nothing like Harry Potter. There might be some similar things, but lets clear the table this is a different story and just as good. Midnight For Charlie Bone is a very compelling story that keeps you longing for more. The book starts out with a Prologue that gives you a brief history of The Red King, it then starts with Charlie's dilemna over getting the wrong photograph and hearing what people are saying in pictures. This picture leads to a chain of events which include three cats called Sagitarius, Leo, and Aries, who belonged to The Red King about 950 years ago. Charlie was just a normal boy but from an endowed family basically families that have powers.Charlie Bone is one of the descendants of the Red King. Charlie has inherited one of the kings powers where he can hear voices in photos. He is sent to a school that endowed children with powers have to go to or students that are just geniuses in the area of art or music. Bloors is not an ordinary school. Many strange things happen there and Charlie Bone is trying to figure out what they are. Not only are there strange things going on these things are very evil. All around Charlie there is evil but in his hero journey he has found very reliable friends to help him.

I Choose to Stay: Even after being lost in the ruin at the end of the first book, Charlie chooses to stay at Bloor's to help the good endowed children of the Red King fight against the bad guys.

Need Help?

I Never Told You My Name: Alice Angel knows Olivia's name immediately when she and Charlie walk into her shop, and uses it repeatedly. It doesn't say much for Charlie's intelligence that he doesn't think anything is wrong until Alice also says his name. It turns out that, unknown to them Alice is Olivia's next door neighbor, godmother, and self-declared guardian angel and a friend of Charlie's Uncle Paton. The fourth instalment of the international best-selling series from Jenny Nimmo starring Charlie Bone. Interquel: Gabriel and the Phantom Sleepers is the latest book written to date but is apparently set some time before Charlie Bone and the Red Knight, as Bloor's Academy hasn't been renamed Bone's Academy yet and Ezekiel and Manfred are briefly mentioned in the present tense, meaning they are still alive. Cerebus Syndrome: The books seems to become darker after the fifth book, though they weren't that light-hearted to begin with. Took a Level in Jerkass: Dorcas Loom in Blue Boa, as a result of being corrupted by Yolanda Yewbeam.