Charlie Bone and the Invisible Boy

charlie bone and the invisible boy

This is the third in a series by Jenny Nimmo. Simon Russell Beale is a wonderful reader. Fun books, shorter and less involving than the Harry Potter, but then, what isn't? These have their own charm, and again, the reader is superb.

If you know nothing about Charlie Bone (the first in the series is Midnight for Charlie Bone) I must tell you that you will first notice its similarity to Harry Potter. Charlie is also a boy who does magic. He also has weird hair. He also is going to be forced to go to a school where kids do magic.

Only this is not a pleasant school, and not ALL the kids do magic. And those who do -- who are "endowed" -- each have a particular talent. When Charlie looks at photographs, he can hear what the people were saying when the photograph was made. Another student can touch an object and tell you what happened to its owner. Another can stir up a storm (literally) if his emotions aren't controlled. And so on, and so on. At one point it occurred to me that this is a variation on a school for superheroes, each with odd and specific powers.

And while the Dursleys are cruel and unpleasant, Charlie's family is so bad, well, I won't tell you because you don't find out until deeper into the first book.

As I said, it's entertaining enough if you like this kind of book, and I do love this reader.

Have you read any of them? What did you think? Just curious....