Fantasy

I loved this introduction to the series. It's an interesting world. It is very much like "Harry Potter", but more accessible for a younger audience. It's a quick, easy read, too.

I liked a lot of the ideas presented in the series. A lot of the characters were fun, especially Charlie's uncle and the Flames.

My main issues are that it kind of peters out by the end of the series. Yes, it's nice to see Charlie and his friends maturing and coming into his powers - I enjoyed that part - but the books stayed too goody-good for too long.

If you want some easy, pleasant fantasy/supernatural, take a gander at these books. I'd avoid the last three or so in the series, though. ( )

haters will compare this to harry potter when it’s closer to x-men. yes it’s childish and yes my joy for this series is 50% nostalgia but this is genuinely such a fun plot/conspiracy with cute good-natured characters and to young readers I recommend it over hp

The Charlie Bone series was taking up a large amount of valuable shelf space in my library and hadn't been checked out in a while. I was considering weeding it and asked a colleague what she thought of the series. She loves it and recommends it as a series similar to Harry Potter with an easier reading level. I knew I needed to read it myself so that I could recommend it to students and provide an accurate book talk.
Charlie Bone has no siblings, his father is presumed dead, and he lives with his mom, uncle, and two grandmas. Because his grandma with special powers funds their living situation, they all abide by what Grandma Bone says. One day, Charlie discovers that he can hear people in photographs. When Grandma Bone learns of this special power, she immediately enrolls Charlie in a boarding school. From one photograph, Charlie learns that there is a baby who was stolen years ago and now attends his school under a hypnotization. Charlie and some of his friends, work together to solve the mystery of who this person is and how to awake her from her hypnosis.
This book is full of adventure, mystery, and suspense. It moves quickly due to simple sentences and large spacing between lines. Reluctant readers would feel successful completing this thick book. A few parts of the story were a little confusing to me, but I don't think students would be hung up on this. It is definitely not as captivating as the Harry Potter series, but is a great introduction to longer fantasy books.

Rereading this series and it holds up pretty well! ( )