Charlie Bone and the Castle of Mirrors
(Children of the Red King, Book Four)
by Jenny Nimmo

As he begins his second year at Bloor’s Academy, Charlie finds himself floundering with confusion – like a first-year all over again! One of the reasons is that Manfred Bloor, late head boy, is back as a teaching assistant, and his equally nasty stooge, Asa Pike, has also returned (to repeat a year). Another reason has to do with the delicate balance among the handful of magically endowed students at Bloor’s, which has begun to tilt toward the Dark Side – thanks to a strange, magnetic little boy named Joshua Tilpin.

Then, there is the disappearance of the piano teacher Mr. Pilgrim. (Does anyone else think he’s who I think he is?) Plus, Mr. Pilgrim has been replaced by a terribly strange, and strangely terrible, new teacher named Tantalus Ebony. And finally, just when a caring guardian steps forward for little Billy Raven (you remember, the eight-year-old orphan who has been raised almost as a prisoner in Bloor’s, who can talk to animals, and who is a “neutral” between the two feuding groups of endowed children), just then, I say, the Bloors pack Billy away with a new set of adoptive parents. And wouldn’t you know it, the de Greys are evil, evil, evil people with the power to make Billy the most miserable little boy in town.

And that’s all just the beginning. There’s more - much more: a dangerous shifting of the balance...Charlie’s friends in more danger than ever...Charlie’s importance as a keeper of the balance becoming ever clearer...a ghostly warhorse brought back from the dead...a powerful wand stolen, destroyed, and transformed...one of Charlie’s friends discovering a troubling new talent...an evil spirit bent on vengeance...a bizarre castle with a hideous history...and another crushing setback in Charlie’s search for his long-lost father... It’s hard to believe all this can fit into one book, just over 410 pages, and those printed in an eye-strain-reducing format!

Astounding as Charlie’s adventures in this book are, they almost seem to work out too easily...ALMOST! After all, someone literally sacrifices their life for someone they care about. And although Billy’s escape from the de Greys comes early enough to spare us much anxiety (perhaps too much), it isn’t an easy escape and neither are the consequences. Plus, the discoveries Charlie and his friends make in this book could generate several more adventures, each of which will, no doubt, be more challenging than the last. So maybe I’m just whining because the fun ended too soon, and I don’t know when the next book is coming out!

Robbie Fischer
USA

Recommended Age: 10+

9/2/05

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