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Review by Linda Harmon
This book is the first in the Children
of the Red King series. The prologue to the book gives us background
information about a magical Red King who ruled in England seven
centuries ago. After his wife died and five of his 10 children went
bad, he disappeared into the forests of the northern kingdoms along
with his three cats -- leopards to be exact. His magical powers were
passed on to his descendants and quite often appear in people who
have no idea what is happening to them. This is what happens to
Charlie Bone.
Charlie lives at No. 9 Filbert St. with
his widowed mother, two grandmothers and a recluse uncle.
Grandmother Bone is a harsh and unhappy woman who is constantly
reminding everyone that before she married Mr. Bone, she was a
Yewbeam. The Yewbeams have been around for centuries and are
historically known for being an artistic family (who also have other
unusual talents, such as mind reading, hypnotism and bewitchery).
Grandmother Bone is disappointed in Charlie because he seems to be a
very ordinary boy, which is just fine with Charlie.
Charlie has a best friend, Benjamin,
who lives at No. 12 Filbert St. He will be 10 years old on Saturday,
and Charlie wants to make a special card for him with a picture of
Benjamin's dog, Runner Bean, on it. Charlie asks his mother to take
it to the Kwik Foto and have it enlarged. His mother brings the
photo home, but they have mistakenly given her the wrong one.
Instead of Runner Bean it is a picture of a man holding a baby.
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 Charlie can't stop looking at the photo
and then realizes that he can hear voices coming from the photo.
Seeing that he is visibly shaken, Grandmother Bone asks him what
happens when he looks at the photo. He tells her that he hears the
thoughts of the people in the photo.
Charlie still wants to make a card for
Benjamin's birthday, so he decides to go to the address on the wrong
photo and ask for his photo back. The address is a small bookstore
run by a Miss Ingledew. She tells him that the man in the picture is
Dr. Tolly and that he did something terrible once. The baby in the
picture is her niece, and after Miss Ingledew's sister died, Dr.
Tolly gave the baby away. The child would be 10 years old now, and
Miss Ingledew tells Charlie she would do anything to get her back.
She gives Charlie a small case that she needs to get out of her
house and tells him to tell no one about it.
With the revelation of Charlie's
"endowment," Grandmother Bone takes over his life. She announces
that he must now attend Bloor's Academy, a private boarding school
for gifted children. Charlie's father was also "endowed" and
attended Bloor's. It is within the grim, gray walls of Bloor's that
Charlie discovers that his father may not be dead. He also meets new
friends as well as new enemies and is thrown into the never-ending
battle of good versus evil.
This book is
recommended for ages 10 and up. For more information, please visit
the library at 725 Pekin St. or call (217) 732-5732.
[Linda Harmon,
Lincoln
Public Library District] |
