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Type of bind: Hardcover
EAN num: 9780439474290
ISBN number: 0439474299
Label: Orchard
Manufacturer: Orchard
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 416
Printing Date: March 01, 2003
Publishing house: Orchard
Age index: Young Adult
Sale Popularity Level: 11071
Studio: Orchard
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Product Description:
The fabulous powers of the Red King were passed down through his descendants, after turning up quite unexpectedly, in someone who had no idea where they came from. This is what happened to Charlie Bone, and to some of the children he met behind the grim, gray walls of Bloor's Academy. Charlie Bone has discovered an unusual gift-he can hear people in photographs talking! His scheming aunts decide to send him to Bloor Academy, a school for genius's where he uses his gifts to discover the truth despite all the dangers that lie ahead.
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Rated by buyers 
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Midnight For Charlie Bone is full of fantasy and wonder! Charlie Bone finds out he can hear people talking in photographs. Turns out, to his disappointment, he has to go to special boarding school for children with magical talent. Charlie Bone is left with a strange briefcase from a bookshop that won't open. Will he ever find out what is in the case?
I love this book because you can never tell what's going to happen next. I think Jenny Nimmo did a great job writing this book. If you're curious and want to know what happens next, read it and you will find yourself in an adventure just like I did!
Rated by buyers 
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I truly, truly believe that this series was an 1000 times worse copy of Harry Potter. I was reading and I kept thinking, "I know this plot." It got very annoying when I knew it was Harry Potter. I was completely dissapointed with this, because I was expecting a lot. I got a box set and I don't want anything to do with it. I think it's cheap to have the exact same thing of Harry Potter. I don't want to be rude to the author, because she must've put effort into writing a book, but you want to be original, and especially not something from such a popular series as Harry Potter. Can I get my $30 back??
Rated by buyers -
this product was mailed to me quickly and I'm very happy with the service I recieved
Rated by buyers 
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(I read the very first 3 Charlie Bone books, so this review is probably more of an indictment of the entire series in general rather than any one book in particular.)
It will be immediately obvious to anyone who reads the back cover that this entire series is nothing more than a Harry Potter knockoff. Personally, I don't have a problem with this. Congruent themes - or even glaringly overt similarities - between novels and/or characters is fine with me. Ergo, just as there is room in my heart for both Superman and Captain Marvel, Aquaman and Submariner, there is room for both HP and the endless series of inevitable clones that followed it.
That said, Charlie Bone falls well short of the Potter series in a number of ways. Like any xeroxed item, imperfections that were barely noticeable in the original (ie, the HP books) become gross and compounded in a copy. If I laid out all the flaws I'd be here all day, so I will just highlight a few.
First the characters seem underdeveloped. They all come across as simple constructs, and mostly one-dimensional. This leads to a fair amount of predictability in the series. In fact, with this series, readers will be able to see around corners in a sense because the level of predicatability is so high that you will know well in advance exactly what's coimg and exactly how things will shake out.
Next, all of the major characters seem to behave in ways that are so abominably stupid that it's hard for readers to relate or empathize. Information that should be held private is blurted out indiscriminately at the very first available opportunity, whereas vital information that should be shared is kept locked up like gold in Fort Knox. Examples:
1) Charlie's great-uncle is injured - purportedly dying - but rather than tell what happened to him (or who did it), he just mopes around saying, "I'm done for...he's killed me...{blah,blah,blah}" He does this for DAYS, mind you, during which time he has multiple conversations with Charlie. But every time Charlie asks what happend, it's "Later..." or "Another time..." or "Charlie, I'm done for..."
2) The cook at Charlie's school is a friend who tries to protect Charlie and his friends from danger. She has a secret room that she asks Charlie not to tell anyone about. Next thing you know, he's not only telling people but showing them how to get in!
3) An invisible boy is not chained to a wall, locked up, ensorcelled or enchanted, etc., but yet is "trapped" merely by being invisible and forced to serve the antagonists in the series. Yes, he can go anywhere he wants, he can speak to whomever he wants, etc. But he doesn't even go so far as to let his family know he is even alive and (except for being invisible) well.
4) One of the people living in Charlie's house is his evil paternal Grandmother. She is always working against Charlie's interests, and he knows this. Yet, he will still live critical items just lying around, knowing that she constantly looks around his room and goes through his things.
Finally, the series is quite unsatisfying in the sense that villains never get their comeuppance. They constantly seem to have Charlie & Company on the ropes, while landing solid body blows. The end result always seems to be more that Charlie ducked a punch rather than landed a jab of his own. I'm not sayimg that I expect the bad guys to be utterly defeated, but it seems that they never get even so much as a bloody nose.
On the positive side, the books are a fairly easy read. The average reader can probably get through one of these books in a weekend. There are glimpses of how great the series could have been: Charlie's power - the ability to hear and interact with people in photos (or paintings, etc) is novel enough to have taken the series in all kinds of interesting directions. Some of Charlie's classmates have interesting powers as well.
All in all, I would say that the series simply suffers from a lack of development. Maybe it was rushed out to ride on the Harry Potter wave before things died down. Regardless, I think this series had a great premise, but never reached its true potential.
Rated by buyers 
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I don't think I'd recommend this as a substitute or alternative to the Harry Potter books, but instead as a primer for some younger teens who aren't quite ready for Potter's world. Thematically is runs along a similar course: Boy who's lost his father in this case, comes to terms with the fact that he's has an extraordinary gift. Charlie is capable of looking at a photograph and hearing the voices within, and what was happening at the time the picture was taken. Soon his nasty Grandma Bone who is crafted from the same school of the Dursley's from Potter's world, ship him off to Bloor's Academy, a much less detailed and vague Hogwarts. A mystery is revealed that Charlie with his new friends must solve, while the various other characters align with either the good or the bad. Its charming, and engaging enough however simplistic much of the writing might be. Still for a younger teen there would be much to engross them, and with multiple subsequent books, the writing will hopefully mature along with Nimmo's protagonist.
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