Reading with Boy

Boy and I are reading Charlie Bone books right now. Well actually, I finished all four this weekend, Boy's reading two and three at the same time. Charlie Bone is a little like the poor man's Harry Potter. There are several differences, and it's a good series, but there are certain flaws that make it inferior. Also, it is not written for the same age group as Harry Potter, a little younger I would say.

Reasons why Charlie Bone is not as good as Harry Potter:
1. Better writing (by JK Rowling)
2. More action (Again in Harry Potter)
3. The major flaw in this book, I think, is that Charlie is at "war" with his Grandmother Bone and her three sisters. They hate him and often try to kill him or in other ways lead to his demise, yet they still pay for him to go to his special school. It drove me crazy.


Reasons why Charlie Bone is better than Harry Potter:

1. Not everyone in Charlie Bone's world is gifted with magical powers.
2. Those that are generally only have one "endowment" (they use that word a lot in the series)
3. The books are not as formulaic as the Harry Potter series

So overall the books were good but not spectacular as evidenced by the fact that, other than the one Boy got for Christmas, we took the books out of the library instead of buying them.