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. It''s not an easy year for Charlie despite the friends he makes. 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. 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. A flawed but worthwhile offering for avid fantasy fans.-School Library Journal, February 2003 These days stories about schools for budding magicians are inevitably compared to the Harry Potter books.
However, this is the first of a projected series, so it will be interesting to see if some of these vague points are resolved. Many aspects of the book are not fully thought out, making it less compelling than it might be. The story is marred by some predictability, and the role of the endowed in this otherwise contemporary, unmagical society is not clear. The writing is deft, most of the characters are intriguing, and Charlie Bone is an appealing boy.
While the parallels with Harry Potter are obvious, this fantasy has its own charms, chief among them being the endoweds'' often-odd magical abilities.
Charlie, his friend Benjamin, and other allies try to unlock the secrets of a mysterious case that could get the girl back, while the sinister Bloors and Charlie''s ghastly relatives who are endowed try to thwart them. Charlie hears one conversation that sets him on a search for a girl who has been missing for years, and when he begins attending Bloor''s Academy, an elite boarding school for the rich and the endowed (as the Red King''s descendants are called), his life becomes full of intrigue and danger. When he is 10 years old, Charlie discovers that he is able to look at photographs and hear conversations and even thoughts that were taking place at the time the photo was taken, a legacy of his ancestor the Red King, whose descendants all have different magical abilities.
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