45 pages • 1 hour read
Jenny NimmoMidnight for Charlie Bone: The Children of the Red King #1
Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 2002A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Background
Series Context: Children of the Red King
Children of the Red King is a series of eight books that follow Charlie Bone, a boy who discovers he belongs to an ancient lineage of people with supernatural abilities tracing back to the enigmatic and powerful Red King. The Red King’s 10 children split into a good group and an evil group, and this conflict continues into the present day. The primary setting is Bloor’s Academy, a school for artistically or magically gifted children. Each book in the series presents Charlie with a new mystery or challenge, bringing him closer to discovering the truth about what happened to his missing father, what the Bloors and their allies are planning, and his role in the war between the Red King’s descendants.
Midnight for Charlie Bone focuses on discovering what happened to the missing girl Emma Tolly. In Charlie Bone and the Time Twister (2003), Charlie tries to help his great-great-uncle, Henry Yewbeam, who was sent forward in time by a young Ezekiel Bloor. Charlie Bone and the Invisible Boy (2004) has Charlie and his friends trying to help the titular boy, Ollie Sparks, who was made invisible by a strange blue snake. Billy Raven is finally adopted in Charlie Bone and the Castle of Mirrors (2005) by the de Greys, an evil couple who use their powers to trap the boy. In Charlie Bone and the Hidden King (2006), the shadow escapes from the Red King’s portrait at Bloor’s Academy and wreaks havoc on the characters. Charlie Bone and the Beast (2007) has the characters searching for the missing Asa Pike. In Charlie Bone and the Shadow (2008), the shadow returns for revenge, and Charlie must travel through a magical painting. The final book, Charlie Bone and the Red Knight (2010) has Charlie and his allies face off against the Bloors and their allies in a final battle of good versus evil.
In addition to the main eight books in the series, Jenny Nimmo has written the Chronicles of the Red King trilogy: The Secret Kingdom (2011), The Stones of Ravenglass (2012), and Leopards’ Gold (2013). These books cover the story of the Red King and his children and, canonically, are the books Paton works on in the original series. There are two other books, Henry and the Guardians of the Lost (2016) and Gabriel and the Phantom Sleepers (2018), set after the events of the main series.
Genre Context: Fantasy School Stories
Midnight for Charlie Bone is an example of a book in the Children’s Literature subgenre of magical school stories. Books in the genre blend the structure of a school story, which centers on children’s normal social and educational experiences, with the imaginative and adventurous elements of fantasy. The most famous recent example of the sub-genre is the Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowling but the fantasy school is a widespread and longstanding trope in children’s literature. Examples include Horowitz’s Groosham Grange and the very popular Worst Witch series by Jill Murphy. These settings allow authors to write relevant and educative works for young readers, providing examples and allegories for life’s challenges, while enhancing the excitement and imaginary scope of the book’s world and action. It is typical in this genre to create a school along an old-fashioned model, often combining the glamor of romanticism with the thrill of the gothic. This archaic aspect, along with unfamiliar fantasy elements creates a setting that is ripe with uncertainty, potential, and mystery.
Bloor’s Academy is unusual in this genre because it accepts not only magically “endowed” children but also “unendowed” children who are gifted in the arts. As such, the school is split into three departments rather than houses: art, drama, and music. The school setting sets up divisions and allegiances, creating an environment where the characters can test themselves, form friendships, and discover who they are. Magic also serves as a symbolic representation of each child’s unique qualities. This is especially true in the world of the Children of the Red King, as endowed children have powers that seem outside themselves but are tied to their personalities. These function as expressive additions in a similar way to the “daemons”—animal companions with a mystical spirit bond to their humans—in Phillip Pullman’s His Dark Materials. This is an example of how Nimmo combines tropes from other sub-genres into her main fantasy school genre.
The nature of the children’s powers supports the coming-of-age themes at the heart of these school-centric books. The protagonists start young and inexperienced and grow throughout their respective series, as the series follows the shape of their school careers. The characters are made to grapple with issues of loyalty, bravery, friendship, and identity, learning valuable lessons as they face increasingly challenging obstacles. The progression mirrors the developmental journey of the intended audience, who is learning to navigate relationships and moral choices.
The final staple of the subgenre is the prevalence of struggles between good and evil. These conflicts are not just physical battles but moral and ethical struggles, as the characters must decide what they believe in and what they are willing to sacrifice. The genre uses these black-and-white battles to present complex moral questions about justice, responsibility, and personal integrity in an accessible, though sometimes simplistic, way for young readers.
