Rating: 
Miles Halter hates his life in Florida. No friends, no hobbies, other than his mental collection of Last words. Knowing there has to be something more out there, he applies to Culver Creek Boarding School in Alabama.
Upon arrival he realizes that his lofty ideals for the place will not in fact be met, but once befriended by his roommate, The Colonel, and after meeting the girl down the hall, Alaska, he starts to realize there’s potential after all.
Getting off to a rocky start, having a near miss with drowning thanks to an over-zealous prank, Miles, now “Pudge,” has a lot of reservations. The concussion he receives from a Basketball thrown at his head, and the subsequent being sick on his girlfriend-to-be do little to ease his worries. But there are classes he likes, the bufriedos are great, and his small crew of friends make things worthwhile.
Just when he’s starting to feel at home with his new world, a shattering blow brings it to pieces around him. Therein follows much avoidance, soul-seeking, unending questions, anger, pain, detective work, and eventually….enlightenment.
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May 31st, 2006
1:47 pm
Book Review, Harry Potter Read-Alikes, Series
boarding schools, charlie bone, children of the red king, children's books, england, fantasy, juvenile fiction, magic, wizards, ya fiction
Rating:
The trouble in and around Bloor’s Academy grows even greater, as the Children of the Red King struggle on with their fight. All the town’s animals have disappeared over night, and no one knows why. With the help of Billy’s rat Rembrandt, Charlie Bone uncovers the answer. And with the help of a mysterious girl named Naren, is able to find the animals and bring some back. But as he only brings his friends’ animals back, he then finds himself to blame for the rest of them being missing. Having sworn never to tell the secret of Naren’s family, he can only hope that the rest of the animals will return on their own. Luckily, they do.
Meanwhile, there are rumors circulating of a mysterious Shadow. One which Rembrandt tried to warn them about, but the boys could make no sense of his cryptic message. While it’s widely known that there was someone called the Shadow who tore the Red King’s family apart, there is almost nothing to be found about him, outside of travel journals written by Bartholomew Bloor, which he gets to Charlie, and which Charlie must then hide, once he’s read them and discovered all he can.
And if that’s not enough, his best friend’s parents have been sneaking around Bloor’s, his mother has been bewitched and is forgetting his father, and the nicest teacher at the Academy has turned out to be an enemy. Armed with a charm that can free the King and the knowledge of where his father is, Charlie aims to set his life straight.
A fun and fast read that’s rather difficult to write well about without giving it all away.
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