★★★☆☆ Minimal surreal magic school story

Midnight for Charlie Bone

Jenny Nimmo

Charlie Bone has one friend, who has a dog. Charlie lives with his mother and two grandmothers, one who is kind (Maisie) and one, Grandma Bone, who is severe. Charlie discovers unexpectedly that he has a gift -- he is "endowed", as Grandma Bone says. When he looks at a photograph, he can hear the conversation that took place when it was taken. Grandma Bone tells him that, because he is endowed, he must go to a special private school, Bloor's Academy. Charlie accordingly goes to Bloor's Academy, meets other endowed children, and has adventures.

Although this sounds like Harry Potter or Percy Jackson, the feeling is completely different. Jenny Nimmo's style is spare to the point of minimalism. Nothing is described in more than the barest outline. I don't have a mental image of any of the characters. The story is told in the third person from Charlie's point of view. His inner dialog is minimal. I don't have a feeling for who he is or how he feels. The same holds more strongly for the remaining characters. I have no sense of an underlying structure or logic to Charlie's city or school. The result was a surreal ambience.

My best stab at explaining is that if René Magritte wrote a children's book, this might be how it would feel.

It did not honestly interest me all that much. Although I like the weird and surreal, this was too spare for me. I doubt I'll read any more Charlie Bone books.

Midnight for Charlie Bone on Amazon

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