When he is 10-years-old, Charlie discovers that he is able to look at photographs, and hear conversations, even thoughts, that were taking place at the time the photos were taken, a legacy of his ancestor, the Red King, whose descendants all have different magical abilities. Charlie hears one conversation that sets him on a search for a girl who has been missing for years, and, when he begins attending Bloor's Academy, an elite boarding school for the rich and the endowed (as the Red King's descendants are called), his life becomes full of intrigue and danger. Charlie, his friend, Benjamin, and other allies try to unlock the secrets of a mysterious case that could get the girl back, while the sinister Bloors and Charlie's ghastly relatives, who are endowed, try to thwart them. While the parallels with Harry Potter are obvious, this fantasy has its own charms, chief among them being the endoweds' often-odd magical abilities.
Date read: 3/27/2009
ISBN-10: 0439474299
ISBN-13: 9780439474290
Check the library catalog