My 10 year old recommended this one and I can see why.

There’s certainly a Harry Potter vibe to it, plus maybe a few other popular books, yet is still distinguishable in its own right.

All in all, it’s pretty good for a middle grade book.

I loved the Snow Spider trilogy as a kid, then completely forgot about Jenny Nimmo until a friend showed us the TV version of Snow Spider at Christmas, when it occurred to me to look up what else she'd done, and it turned out that a big part of the answer was this – a series about a boy who goes to wizard school, of which I'd never heard, presumably through a combination of being a bit old for them once it came out, and their easily being overshadowed by a certain other series on the same topic. The interesting thing here, though, is how much this doesn't overlap with the books we no longer name. Charlie isn't wish fulfillment for kids who feel out of place; "He liked football and TV, and that was about it." Before he turns out to be 'endowed'*, the grandma he gets on with is the resolutely non-magical one, who like him has no time for all the strangeness which comes from the other side of the family. Even Charlie's 'endowment' is initially an unspectacular one, easily taken for a breakdown: he can hear photographs. And at first, it does anything but improve his life. Grandma Bone is no longer dismissive of him, but grows alarmingly over-interested and controlling instead; Bloor's Academy isn't the jolly romp sort of boarding school, but a place of opaque rules, excessive punishments and blatant nepotism, the bullying head boy being the son of the creepy headmaster. "If only he'd been able to keep quiet about the voices, he wouldn't have had to go to a horrible school where he'd be imprisoned for weeks at a time, with a lot of weird children who did peculiar things."

As you might have picked up even from those brief quotes, the writing here skews younger than I remember Snow Spider et al reading (though I was admittedly pretty young myself at the time), maybe even younger than the other wizard school books, and at first I worried nearly 300 pages of that might be more than I could enjoy, but there is a strangeness as well as a simplicity to it. Some of the magic, like Mr Onimous' unusual cats and the uncle's business with lightbulbs, reminded me of Dianna Wynne Jones in a way I can't properly explain, and the backstory of a legendary, long-ago king whose legacy is behind all the odd gifts down the years felt not unlike Jonathan Strange. The book picks up speed and substance as it goes along, and if Charlie does maintain a certain obstinate inability to pick up really obvious clues, well, kids are pretty oblivious at times, especially when it comes to grown-up stuff. At the finish I was left feeling, like Charlie and friends, that whatever the problems with Bloor's, I think I would like to go back. Which is handy, really, because having been drinking for some hours when I had that Christmas revelation, and spotted a good deal, I did buy all eight books.

*An unfortunate choice of term, really, especially when the lead is an adolescent boy.

First impression? "Ah.... this book is appearently Harry Potter 2.0"
It gets all the ingredients. The special boarding school, the magic things, the friendship, the mystery, the adventure. BUT...this book also quite different.

This book is about Charlie Bone who one day, all of sudden could hear voice from a picture. So his aunts decided to send him to Bloor's Academy, school for talented children, normal talented kinds. So there was music, art, and drama department. Many people didn't know that there was also special children like Charlie, or they called it Endowed. Every one of them had different gift. Like one could fly, other could hypnothized, one could talk to animal, etc.
AND SO.....THE ADVENTURE BEGAN!!!!

Here's a review from my seven year old son - as he's the one who read it!

"I liked Midnight For Charlie Bone because it was exciting and there were loads of secrets. At the end, it's nice when you find out what the secrets are. I liked the characters because they are very different. Olivia Vertigo was my favourite because she was weird! I didn't like that it didn't tell you what was in the ruin, because I wanted to know.

This is a really fun book. It does have some similarities to Harry Potter with the magical aspects and it being set in, I believe, England. However, there are more non-magical people in these books and the school is run by bad people, so it's not necessarily a good place to be. My 9-year-old daughter started reading this at school, so I thought I'd read them too to see what they're about. I read this first book in about 3 days, very fast read. It's an enjoyable story, though I figured a few things out from the clues in the story. I think those would be easier for an adult to pick out than a younger kid. I think these books will be a good starter point and stepping stone before my daughter starts the Harry Potter books.

Aside from bad writing which I will look past since this is targeted towards a much younger audience. Although, I do think this was a missed opportunity to give young readers the chance to look for context clues and have more descriptions of how characters feelings. This can help them develop the language and understanding for different emotions. Charlie Bone literally did nothing the entire time. It was his friend’s actions that carried the storyline and made any type of progress towards their end goal. Charlie felt like a side character who just got all the credit in the end. He was always treated like this special character by the teachers and staff at the school but it was never made clear why. Also, what was the point of the endowed characters? They didn’t get any special guidance while at the school, Charlie still had to play an instrument, they didn’t learn anything about the Red King or how to control their powers. I wished Charlie’s ability to hear pictures was used more and played a more prominent role in them discovering the truth about Emma Tolly. The first few chapters we see Charlie discover his ability which is how he ends up going to the school and aside from using it one other time, he never really uses it again.

Bought this series on a whim at the used book store. I was looking for fun reads for my avid readers. This book did not disappoint! I’m hooked. My daughter has read the entire series and has loved it. Now we can chat about it. :)

I hate to make the comparison, because everyone puts Harry Potter on such a pedestal, BUT if you like Harry Potter I imagine you’ll like this series. The characters are developed well, and the writing was fluid. A nice easy read while I’m going about my day. It left me with a cliff hanger so I’m on to book 2!

This is a great and wonderful book! I look forward to finishing the entire series!

Midnight for Charlie Bone is a story about a young Charlie who lives with his grandma and aunts. One day Charlie realizes, when looking over a family picture, that he has a special gift; the power to hear the voices in the pictures. He decides to keep this power a secret until his aunts and grandmother discover this secret. They then sent him to Bloor's academy; a school full of student sharing numerous abilities like himself. Although this school isn't a walk in the park as it's overwhelmingly strict, all coming from the head boy Manfred. Charlie then discovers a hypnotized child being held in a photograph against her will by Manfred's diabolical schemes with his own power (hypnosis). Charlie and his new friends then set out on their quest to end this regime.

This story is great to pass time and to enjoy, especially sense it is in a series offering plenty of action and adventure. It's also fun for discussions with others, like book clubs! This is a fantasy based book with quest like adventure, as well as magic. Now most readers would probably be young like me but that doesn't mean that adults won't enjoy it either. I honestly think this is a decent book to read, especially sense it covers a few genres adding onto the fun. So yeah I honestly recommend this book to mostly everyone (but I feel more like it would more enjoyed for a younger nerdy audience, like me not to be offensive)

I really like this book, and i mean really enjoy it mostly because of the wondrous fantasy (and I say this a lot but this one holds a special place in my top five), so I'll happily give this book 5 stars no problem and can't wait to read the rest of the series.

rereading childhood classics pt 3, current me gives it 3 stars but 10 year old me gives it 4 stars

Contrived and cliche story of a somewhat magical boy and his friends. This one feels rushed and lacks plot/character development. It is part of a series, though, so maybe there is more to come.

This book was exponentially better than any of the J. K. Rowling Harry Potter books. It's obvious that Jenny Nimmo based her plot outline on the first Harry Potter book, but who cares? J. K. Rowling summarily lifted the plot & most of the goings-on in "Sorcerer's Stone" from the book "Mary Poppins" by P. L. Travers, & Rowling has never even received a slap on the wrist in any court of law for her outright plagarism. I think there are probably many new things under the sun, but no one in the 21st century has the guts to put it out there because they're too busy falling back on the tried-and-true million-copy-selling ideas.

Ms. Nimmo's first book in the Charlie Bone series is much more appropriate for young people than any of the Rowling books that are put out there as "for children" (which they most certainly are not). It was entertaining, not too heavy & dark, & charmed me with the character of Runner Bean, the little loyal doggie. Guardian-angelic cats named after the Zodiac are another endearing device the author used.