Book Review: Midnight for Charlie Bone
To start of the year, I picked1 a middle grade book I remember reading when I was a teenager. Midnight for Charlie Bone by Jenny Nimmo is the first in a series, and was originally published in 2002 in the UK. It is a fairly quick read, being middle grade with simpler sentence structure and much less detail than an adult book would have, and overall it is charming.
The story is about a boy named Charlie Bone who develops the ability to hear what people in photographs were saying and thinking when the photo was taken, and because he has this "endowment" the wealthy side of his family require him to attend a prestigious boarding school. But there's trouble afoot, and Charlie's good character is put up against older children and adults who are of very bad character. But with the help of a group of friends Charlie builds over the course of the book, and a few outside nudges from some cats the color of flames, Good wins the day and Charlie is set on a path to unravel a deeper mystery at the boarding school.
One thing that immediately becomes apparent is this was very much inspired by the popularity of Harry Potter. Charlie has a lot in common with Harry, there are "houses", just with a different flavor, and there is a pretty clear divide between the Good and the Bad. Even back when I first read it, I could see the similarities.
This time reading it, though, I got a different sense. Charlie Bone feels more like a blending of Harry Potter and A Series of Unfortunate Events. Many, if not most, of the adults in Charlie Bone are not good people or don't listen to the children protagonists, much like in A Series.
For a rating, I give it four stars. It's not a favorite, not nearly as magical as Harry Potter, but it was fun, I liked the main character Charlie, and I was able to finish it pretty quickly. I would recommend it for children and adults alike who enjoy Harry Potter and A Series. There are a total of eight books, and you can find them used online fairly easily.
This year I'm playing a TBR game called Lord of the Reads, where I essentially roll on a board game to see what book I should read next. It was created by Library Unbounded on YouTube, and I'm hoping it will encourage me to read more outside of what I'm in the mood for, breaking a certain bad habit. My first roll certainly surprised me, picking Charlie Bone.↩