From Charlie's Point of View (Puffin Sleuth Novels) [Paperback]

Richard Scrimger (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 8 and up | Grade Level: 3 and up | Series: Puffin Sleuth Novels

Charlie Fairmile’s got problems. He’s about to start a new year at schuyler Colfax Middle school, and his dad has been accused of bank robbery. Charlie knows that his dad is innocent, but the police insist that Mr. Fairmile must be the stocking bandit. so Charlie has no choice but to try to find the real culprit. but solving a mystery isn’t always easy—especially when you’re blind. with the help of his best friends, his braille computer, and a guardian angel, Charlie sets out to unravel a crime that even the police can’t seem to solve.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 5-8–Life is pretty dark for Charlie. He is blind, and his dad has just been arrested for a crime he didn't commit. Now, with the help of his friends Bernadette and Lewis, Charlie is determined to find the real Stocking Bandit–a masked man who has been robbing banks up and down their metropolitan city. In addition to solving a crime that the police think is a wrap, the teenagers must deal with a bully in their seventh-grade class. Despite the serious subject matter, the book elicits plenty of laughs with main characters who are smart, funny, and likable. Fate also seems to take a liking to them, in the form of a classmate named Gideon who mysteriously shows up at just the right times to save the trio from certain doom. Aside from the occasional supernatural element, the scenes involving bullying and imperfect parents are refreshingly realistic and hold plenty for readers to relate to. Fascinating details that often go unnoticed by the ordinary observer are included throughout much of the story, since Charlie's point of view depends mostly on hearing and feeling. To assist in conveying his visual limitation, the text is punctuated with illustrations of what Charlie sees at critical moments–all black pages. With a fast-paced plot, witty dialogue, and compelling characters, this mystery is riveting all the way to its exciting and surprising conclusion.–Emily Rodriguez, Alachua County Library District, Gainesville, FL
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

Gr. 7-10. Charlie's dad is accused of being the masked thief who has been robbing neighborhood cash machines, but Charlie is convinced he is innocent. With his friend Bernadette, he sets out to prove Dad's innocence, confronting a huge cast of suspects--from the classroom bimbo and the schoolyard bully to the neighbor who suddenly sports fur coats and jewelry. The plot twists and turns until the gruesome climax plays out in the local graveyard. What's special here is intrepid Charlie, blind from birth. Bernadette, his guide and fellow sleuth, may tell him what's going on, but, in the end, it's Charlie who makes crucial discoveries in a place where only he can find the way. There is no reverence about Charlie's disability, and he and Bernadette joke about the limits of his Braille computer and the self-important volunteer caregiver. In fact, all the adult characters--parents, teachers, and detectives--are decidedly not heroic. Readers will rush to find out whodunit, but they'll come away with more than the answer to the mystery; they'll clearly grasp that people are more than what they seem to be. Hazel Rochman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 8 and up
  
• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Puffin (June 14, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0142408182
• ISBN-13: 978-0142408186
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 0.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,322,778 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars From Charlie's Point of View, November 26, 2006

A Kid's Review

This review is from: From Charlie's Point of View: A Mystery (Hardcover)

From Charlie's Point of View is a mystery and is written by Richard Scrimger. Almost everything in this book is a coincidence. It is about a blind kid named Charlie and his friends Bernadette and Lewis. Charlie's dad, Roger is accused of being the Stocking Bandit, but he's innocent. The Stocking Bandit is a bank robber who has stolen a lot of money from multiple banks.
Roger was getting ready for work and he noticed his black socks had holes in them. Roger looked at his watch and he was late for work. He stuffed his black socks into his pocket and grabbed another pair. Since Roger was late to work he decided to take the taxi to work instead of the bus; the taxi is expensive, but the bus takes too long.
The Stocking Bandit was in a taxi at the same time as Roger. Roger and the Stocking Bandit both went to the same bank, wearing almost the exact suit. Roger was just going to work, but the Stocking Bandit was there to rob the bank. Since Roger was wearing almost the exact suit as the Stocking Bandit, the taxi driver of the Stocking Bandit thought Roger was him. The taxi driver reported that to the police and then the police accused Roger of being the Stocking Bandit.
At the same time as Roger and the Stocking Bandit were in taxis, Charlie and Bernadette were busy saving a nerd from a hungry dog. They had just ridden the bus and Bernadette swore she saw a guy with a stocking on his face running. As Charlie and Bernadette were trying to save the nerd (which wasn't really working), Charlie and Bernadette heard this sound that was like a choir singing. And then a miracle happened, a bouncy ball hit a broken skate board and tripped the hungry dog which was just about to charge at Charlie. The nerd, Charlie, and Bernadette ran to school just as the bell rang. As they were running to school,the nerd introduced himself as Lewis.
When Charlie and Bernadette got home from school, his mom told him that his dad was in jail. Charlie's mom also told him a few days later that if Roger is accused of bank robbery he and his mom will have to move to Wennipeg, Canada because of the publicity. Now Charlie has to figure out who is the Stocking Bandit before his dad gets accused of bank robberies because he doesn't want to move all the way to Canada. He can do that with a little help from his friends, Bernadette and Lewis.
I rate From Charlie's Point of View five out of five stars. I really liked this book. I liked this book because I thought that the book kept you asking yourself what happens next. I also liked the book because there are these sentences where it says something about what Charlie sees, and then the next two pages are grey. I thought that was funny and it reminded me what blind people actually do see; nothing.
Richard Scrimger's style of writing is very interesting. He writes scenes inside of chapters. Each scene is someone else's point of view. In other words, the scenes switch off telling what one of the main characters is doing. Richard Scrimger is very good at describing things. He describes everything as if you can't see or hear or smell or touch. Richard Scrimger is a very good author.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fun Mystery, January 22, 2011

By 

DevoGirl - See all my reviews

This review is from: From Charlie's Point of View (Puffin Sleuth Novels) (Paperback)

This is a fun, breezy mystery, with unusual characters and quirky, present-tense narration. Charlie is a great character: born blind, he's pretty confident and well-adjusted, but he still needs to rely on his friend Bernadette to get around. She has problems of her own, with an alcoholic mother and deadbeat dad. The story starts on the first day of middle school, where they struggle to make friends, avoid bullies, deal with weird teachers, and oh yeah, try to get Charlie's dad off the hook for bank robbery. Charlie and Bernadette are very appealing, but the other characters tend toward cartoonish stereotypes. Still, it was fun to read, and I wish there were more stories about Charlie, this could have been the first book in a series.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Who would think it would be......., December 6, 2005

A Kid's Review

This review is from: From Charlie's Point of View (Paperback)

i cant belive who was the stocking banit!!! it is <..............>read the book and you will find out