A review by msjoanna
Charlie Bone and the Invisible Boy by Jenny Nimmo

3.0

The best in the series so far. The author seems to be finding her stride with this series a bit more. My seven year old continues to love this series, so we'll be moving right along to the next book. As an adult reader, I continue to find these books a bit thin. The premise is that descendants of the Red King have various "endowments" -- sort of magical/mystical powers. Charlie can go into pictures/paintings and talk with those depicted (and, at least sometimes, can bring those folks back with him); Billy Raven can talk to animals, Gabriel can feel the emotions of the previous wearer of an article of clothing. But most of these eclectic powers feel a bit forced -- the author needs to contrive a plot device where the particular talent is used.

Here, the story unfolded quickly and there was enough action to keep the book interesting, but the actual plotline was a little too neat and unexamined. No spoilers here, but I found the premise of the invisible boy not very well executed and the resolution a bit too simple in the end.

On to book four...