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's scary sisters soon find out, and determine to send him to Bloor's Academy. Mr Onimous appears, and tell Charlie he must find the baby from the photograph, lost inside Bloor's. The mystery deepens when Charlie tries to return the picture to its rightful owner, a bookseller who gives him a heavy box, saying only that it was once swapped for a child. Charlie quickly finds life at Bloor's pretty tough, with its strict rules and the malevolent head boy, Manfred, set against him. He meets someone else with a gift, Gabriel Silk, who can pick up people's feeling from their clothes. Charlie asks about his father's tie, and Gabriel surprises him by saying his father is lost, not dead. Mr Onimous' cats have been involved in a mysterious fire at the school, and more frightening than that, Manfred's sinister gift is to be able to hypnotise people. Exploring at the weekend with new friends Olivia and Billy, Charlie overhears a conversation between Dr Bloor and Manfred. They discover the cats are eight hundred years old, and that Bloor and Manfred are keeping a girl under hypnosis. Charlie realises the girl from the photograph must be Emilia Moon and manages to awaken her using the box. The hypnotism cannot be proved to the authorities and the children will have to return next term, once more under the power of Dr Bloor.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #44054 in Books
• Published on: 2002-04-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 345 pages

Review
Charlie Bone seems like a pretty ordinary sort of boy - until he starts hearing soundtracks when he looks at photographs. We know from the short, mediaeval-sounding prologue that there is magic afoot. Suddenly Charlie is possessed of secret knowledge - and one of his grandmothers is suspiciously eager to encourage his talents. This is an enthralling story for eight to 11-year-olds, well told by a writer who is experienced at enthusing a wide variety of readers. Characters and events are delightfully drawn - it is immediately apparent that Grandma Bone is of a different order to Grandma Masie, and that something is amiss when Uncle Paton, who never goes out in daylight, appears to summon Charlie home. Jenny Nimmo is excellent at building tension, creating atmosphere and spinning a story, and here are all the ingredients of a compelling read: three disturbingly unpleasant great aunts, a loving but ineffectual mother, a mysterious metal case with a strange connection to a missing baby, vanishing children, disappearing parents, a sinister school with hidden rooms full of armour, and staff excelling in hypnotism, plotting and betrayal. Characters' names are a feast of invention - Mr Orvil Onimous; Aunts Lucretia, Eustacia and Venetia; Fidelio Gunn, Gabriel Silk and Manfred Bloor, as well as the dog named Percival Pettigrew Pennington Pitt, who thinks he's called Blessed ('that blessed dog...'). Some pretty profound messages are hidden beneath the story-line, with the Red King's warring children, good and evil yet bound together generation after generation... it is clear things will not end here, and welcome to be told at the end that the story is to be continued. Nimmo's greatest talent is to leave the reader always wanting to know what happens next, which is about the best possible attribute for a children's book. (Kirkus UK)

Readers may come away from this hefty series opener, about a seemingly ordinary British lad who is sent to a special boarding school after discovering that he has magical powers, with a distinct sense of deja vu. It seems that England had a magical Red King seven centuries ago, who disappeared after his wife died and five of his ten children went bad. All ten children are still around in various guises, and, along with occasional descendants, can wield parts of the Red King's magic-so once ten-year-old Charlie reveals that he can hear the people in photographs talking, the nasty camp swoops down to bustle him off to Bloor's Academy. Within Bloor's gloomy stone walls he meets friends and enemies, some of whom are also "Endowed," as he struggles to learn the school's routines, helps rescue a kidnapped schoolmate whose mind has been clouded by the baddies, discovers that his father may not be dead as he's been led to believe, and is stalked by a werewolf. The climactic battle, however, occurs offstage, and though several characters turn out not to be who or what they seem, the revelations are thoroughly telegraphed. The author leaves a few threads dangling, but underestimates her audience if she thinks she's left any major surprises for future episodes. Charlie's adventure adds up to a formulaic, thinly disguised placeholder for the next Harry Potter; a far cry from Nimmo's eerie, atmospheric Griffin's Castle (1997). (Fiction. 10-12) (Kirkus Reviews)

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.