Midnight for Charlie Bone (Red King Quintet) [Paperback]

Jenny Nimmo (Author)

Book Description

Series: Red King Quintet | Publication Date: April 1, 2002

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.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 4-6-Young readers are getting to be quite conversant with the characteristics of British boarding schools, especially those for the magically inclined. Jenny Nimmo's novel (Scholastic/Orchard, 2003) has postulated a set of characters, the Endowed, who exhibit very odd magical abilities that seem to have no purpose or usefulness at all and appear randomly in descendants of the nearly-mythical Red King. There are two branches of these descendants: the perplexed but essentially good people who have no idea why they can make light bulbs explode or hear voices coming from photographs, and the evil ones who seem to be part of a very complex and as yet unrevealed sinister scheme. This unusual take on magical abilities makes for a distinctly different set of circumstances and plot. Bloor's Academy which schools both Endowed and artistically gifted unendowed children has a much darker feel to it than Hogwart's but is still perfectly recognizable with its prefects, dining hall, dormitories, and so on. Charlie Bone, who discovers his Endowment at age 11 and has grown up in enigmatic family circumstances which he is only just beginning to figure out, makes many friends among the Endowed as well as the musicians, artists, and actors who people the school. This first tale from a projected series benefits from a reading by Simon Russell Beale which is rife with atmosphere and mystery. His voice, rich with nuance and emotion, brings to life each person and situation, and embellishes the story with a sense of drama and suspense fully appropriate to the tone of the writing. Charlie unravels one mystery of a missing Endowed girl in the course of setting the stage for dramatic future adventures. Not as complex at least not yet as the Harry Potter books, the promise exists for a continued completely fresh angle on the magic story. Many hints are provided of depths to be plumbed in future entries in the series, and a few plot lines in particular are already obvious. Listeners are going to be well rewarded in this audiobook, and they'll be anticipating future episodes.
Jane P. Fenn, Corning-Painted Post West High School, NY
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Audio Cassette edition.

From Booklist

Gr. 4-6. These days stories about schools for budding magicians are inevitably compared to the Harry Potter books. Indeed, British author Nimmo's creation, Bloor's Academy "for gifted children," bears some resemblance to Hogwart's School, but the story itself is quite different. Seemingly ordinary Charlie Bone suddenly discovers that he can hear the thoughts of people in photographs, a talent that dour Grandma Bone and her three baleful sisters work to bend to their own ends by sending him to Bloor's and to its sinister headmaster. It's not an easy year for Charlie despite the friends he makes. Too many people have it in for him as he's swept into an age-old battle being waged by descendants of a powerful king of long ago. A mysterious box, a missing girl, a strange man who flits in and out in the company of three brightly colored cats, and various villains all figure into Charlie's exciting, fast-paced adventure tale, which happily is the first book in planned quintet called Children of the Red King. Harry Potter's myriad fans will be well pleased. Sally Estes
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 345 pages
• Publisher: Egmont Books (April 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0749748885
• ISBN-13: 978-0749748883
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.9 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (205 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #362,645 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fairly good, May 13, 2003

By 

E. A Solinas "ea_solinas" (MD USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Midnight for Charlie Bone (The Children of the Red King, Book 1) (Hardcover)

Budding-wizard-goes-to-school books are becoming increasingly common now that the initial buzz over the Harry Potter series has passed. But more of these are good than you'd think. "Midnight for Charlie Bone," while not the best, is certainly entertaining.

Charlie Bone and his widowed mother live more or less under the thumbs of his horrible grandmother -- until the day he starts hearing photographs speaking. His horrible great-aunts are elated. It turns out that Charlie is one of the "children of the Red King," and so has a specific magical talent. Because his mother was not magical and his father was, they weren't sure if he would be, and now they know.

Though Charlie doesn't want to go, he is quickly enrolled in Bloor's Academy for gifted children. A man with three unusually intelligent cats is lurking around the place, his uncle Paton is stirred from his lethargy, and Charlie begins to learn about a missing child from many years before. A child that, for some reason, someone doesn't want him to find...

Jenny Nimmo's book isn't outstanding, but it is quite nice. While the ending wraps up this particular story, it's clear that there are sequels in mind. With a combination of ordinary and "endowed" people, and a sprinkling of unique talents (one boy can sense the previous owners of clothing), this can stand on its own with no comparisons to Harry Potter. This one is a little darker, a little weirder.

The concept of the Red King is an interesting one, especially the slightly dark tone of the good and bad "endowed" people's responses to one another. The particular quirks, like the intelligent cats, the flashbacks, and the material about Charlie's may-not-be-dead father are also quite good. Her writing style is a little too spare, not giving much detail, and the handling of the "endowed" school is rather unassuming.

Charlie himself is a likable character, as is his timid pal Benjamin. The sinister grandmother and great-aunts aren't quite as well-fleshed out, and his schoolmates have potential but aren't quite there yet. (I guess we'll have to wait for the sequels) Uncle Paton is one of the standouts, a moody and introverted guy who causes lightbulbs and windows to explode.

"Midnight for Charlie Bone" isn't quite as good as the Magickers or Chrestomanci series, but it is a solid read that kids may enjoy. Not bad at all.

22 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This book is so much fun..., August 27, 2004

By 

Detra Fitch (USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Midnight for Charlie Bone (The Children of the Red King, Book 1) (Hardcover)

The mysterious powers of the legendary Red King have been passed down through his descendants. No one has been born with all of the Red King's powers; however, one or two of the powers (A.K.A. "gifts" and "endowments") turn up unexpectedly in someone who has no idea where they came from. Some of the people who receive a gift use it for good, some for evil. When a child is found who shows signs of having a power, they are sent to attend the Bloor's Academy.

Charlie Bone was a normal ten-year-old boy. His father has been dead most of his life, or so he and his mother thought. Living with them are both his grandmothers and Uncle Paton. Grandma Bone is snobby and loves to remind everyone that before she married Mr. Bone, she had been a Yewbeam. The Yewbeams were an ancient family, their history littered with artistic people who had more unusual talents. Charlie's family tolerates her only because the Bone family is so poor and Grandma Bone purchased everything for them, including the house. But Grandma Bone stayed close because Charlie's father had been one of those with powerful magic. Even though Charlie never showed signs of having a gift, it did not mean that one would not show up later. This is exactly what happened.

One morning Charlie looked at a photograph and could hear the thoughts of the people in it! Charlie is horrified, but Grandma Bone and his terrible aunts are delighted. This meant Charlie had to attend the Bloor's Academy during the week and only spend the weekends and holidays at home! Once there, Charlie makes a few friends and learns that some of his classmates have equally mysterious powers.

With his new talent, Charlie learns of a baby that had been adopted by mean people. The biological aunt had been searching for the baby girl for years. When Charlie and his friends find out that the girl is someone at the academy, the search is on! But the girl has no idea of her past, so the small team must figure out which student it is, how to bring back her memory, and help her escape her cruel guardians who want to use her powers for evil.

***** Think of this book as a type of Harry Potter for the younger kids. The book is broken down into titled chapters, a chapter book. The students do not learn spells and magic. They learn the same thing normal school kids are taught, but also how to hone their special talent(s). As in real life, good verses evil. Charlie and his friends have to decide what the right thing to do is, and then how to go about doing it, without the bad guys finding out and stopping them.

This seems to be the first of a series. The author, Jenny Nimmo, has written this book so that the story can stand alone, however, the reader is left with a few questions that may be addressed in future adventures with Charlie and his friends. I found this tale to be well written, with very good morals, and extremely entertaining. Highly recommended reading! *****

Reviewed by Detra Fitch of Huntress Reviews.

29 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Magical Book, February 8, 2005

By 

Jarrod T Thompson "Young Adult Author" (Junction City, KS) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Midnight for Charlie Bone (The Children of the Red King, Book 1) (Hardcover)

Midnight for Charlie Bone is a great read. I enjoyed reading about the school for musical geniuses, The Bloor Academy, and it is interesting that only a few of the students are "endowed" with some sort of magical powers--the rest of the students are just geniuses in the area of art or music.

Charlie Bone's family is dysunctional, yet stuck on who deserves to be endowed and who does not. They do not see their own faults, which always makes for an interesting situation.

Of course there are similarities to Harry Potter, but I was intrigued with this book for different reasons. Harry Potter is similar to many books before it too, but Potter just happened to hit the popularity jackpot.

Midnight for Charlie Bone stands out on its own, and is a very worthy read. Sometimes I think readers forget that we are all critics, but it is okay to enjoy what you are reading, even if it is a kids' book. I don't think there is an age limit for good literature, and what makes a book good is the desire for a reader to want to finish what is being read because the book presents elements of intrigue that keep that book in your hands up until completion.

Charlie Bone has the potential to be a great series. The first in the series is excellent and the background story of "The Children of The Red King" can add more surprises as the series continues.

The coolest part is that all "endowed" children have powers, but they aren't taught spells and the like, they just have to discover what their powers are. The vast array of already presented characters and their very different powers sets this book apart from the Potter series and in my next review I will not even mention Mr. Potter.

This is a wonderful book.