Product Description

Since his father died, Charlie Bone has lived with his mother and her mother, in the house of his other grandmother, Grandma Bone. Looking at a picture of a couple with a baby and a cat, he suddenly discovers he can hear their voices. Although he tries to hide his new gift, Grandma Bone and her scary sisters soon find out, and send him to Bloor's Academy. Charlie quickly finds life at Bloor's pretty tough, with its strict rules and the malevolent head boy, Manfred, set against him. When Charlie discovers that the child in the photograph is being held, hypnotised, against her will, he and his new friends with 'gifts' try to awaken her. But can they overcome Manfred's sinister hypnotic gifts?

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #8166 in Books
• Published on: 2006-06-05
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 352 pages

About the Author
Jenny Nimmo lives in a converted watermill in Wales. Her husband, David, is a painter and print-maker, and all three of her children speak Welsh fluently. She finds Wales, a land of legends, a very inspiring place to live. For as long as she can remember, Jenny has loved books. She feels passionately that every child should have access to as many books as they want. Jenny enjoys writing about magic because it is inexplicable and unpredictable, and anything can happen. In 1986 her book, The Snow Spider, won the Smarties Grand Prix, and in 1987 it was awarded the Tir na n-Og by the Welsh Arts Council. The Rinaldi Ring, was chosen as Guardian Book of the Week and was shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal and received a commendation.

Customer Reviews

Can't wait to read the next one!
Story line: This story is about a boy called Charlie Bone who finds out he can hear voices in pictures. He is sent to a horrible school
called Bloors Academy where he meets Olivia Vertigo and Fidelio Gun.
Our thoughts: We thought this book was really interesting and it is full of dramatic events. The book is jam packed with mystery and Jenny Nimmo must have spent a lot of time writing it.
We would recommend it to: We would recommend it to children all around the world as it is such a great book.
Thoughts of the author: Jenny Nimmo is a great author and has wonderful ideas. We can’t wait to read the next few books. We would like her to write a lot more Charlie bone books as they are brill!

Jenny Nimmo is brilliant
Can we not patronise Jenny Nimmo by saying her work is "just as good as Harry Potter" because The Charlie Bone series and The Snow Spider trilogy are a lot more complex and (in my view) intelligently written. I first discovered Nimmo when I was about 8/9, and it made a great read then but like all brilliant books its stood the test of time, and everytime I read her books I am more and more deeper enthralled. I love the fact that she doesn't immediately resolve the plot lines at the end of every story and even though you want to read on the story is still complete.

I really would recommend Midnight For Charlie Bone for anyone of any age, in fact read all her books, she's brilliant. I know I'm not supposed to rant here but JK Rowling isn't the be-all and end-all of fantasy writing. People should be able to write about magic or whatever without being acused of "borrowing" from Harry Potter. We all know that if it weren't for the likes of CS Lewis and Diana Wynne Jones there'd be no JK Rowling anyway. Nimmo is a fantastic writer in her own right so we should recognise her for that.

We love this book!!
I read Midnight for Charlie Bone with my nine year old son and we both loved it! My son absolutely didn't want to put this book down, which hasn't happened since the Harry Potter series.
Charlie is a typical 10 year old boy who is happy attending school and spending time with his best friend Benjamin and his dog Runner Bean, until he suddenly begins to hear voices coming from photographs. The moment his evil and powerful Yewbeam relatives realize Charlie is one of the "endowed" they send him off to Bloors Academy, an unwelcoming, gloomy school for the specially gifted. Along the way Charlie stumbles onto a mystery involving a stolen baby and a very mysterious case entrusted to his care that everyone seems to be after. A wide variety of interesting people (both good and evil) enter Charlie's life as he sets out to help the lost baby. Charlie will need all his courage and the help of his friends, both old and new, to get to the bottom of the mystery. The characters in this book are memorable and wonderful. We loved our journey into Charlie's world and are eagerly anticipating the sequel. My son can't wait to share this book with all his friends.