Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Charlie Bone

October 8, 2009
Charlie Bone and the Time-Twister is probably one of my favorite books. It is written by Jenny Nimmo. It made me feel like I was in the story and I always got lost in the book as soon as I looked at it. The characters were deep and when one of them was sad, I was sad, when they were angry, I was angry. It is an amazing book. One of my connections to it was that I have been in a place as freaky and foreboding as Bloor's Academy, so I know what it feels like. It's a Just Right book because I can understand pretty much all of it but it always makes me stop and think. The descriptions of everything are very good.

Charlie Bone is a skinny, black-haired kid with a strange talent. He can talk to- and sometimes go into- photos and paintings. His evil aunts send him to Bloor's academy, a big hulking castle of a school where other people have magical talents too. Some are nice but a lot of people, like Manfred Bloor, are as sweet and loving as Charlie's aunts. Not nice at all. In the beginning Charlie is very unwilling to use his talent and avoids looking at paintings and photos. But more and more throughout the story as he tries to help Henry, the time-traveler who was sent to this time by Ezekiel Bone - Henry's malicious brother and Charlie's grandfather, - as he saves Emma Ingledew, etc. etc. he finds himself more and more attracted to jumping into photos and paintings, mostly for help and guidance.

The problem of the story was mainly trying to get Henry to safety, out of the way of the Bloors and the Yewbeams. Intertwined was the problem of getting away to send mysterious Black Lady back five years before, before her injuries and subsequent loss of everything she owned because she played the violin, which is tough with a paralyzed, ruined hand. If they did not show her they could she wouldn't help them get Henry to safety. In the end they retrieved the Time-Twister that sent Henry there, sent the black Lady back with it after she showed them a way to magically transport Henry to Charlie's uncle's acquaintance Christoppher, and so ended the conflict and the story.

1 comment:

  1. A very well written journal entry and a good analytical eye to reading. One thing I was really looking forward to was where you have been that is as spooky and weird as Boor's Academy. It must have been a really neat place. If it comes up again, please do include specifics of your connection. I am always interested in learning about what students have in the way of connections to their reading.

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