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From Charlie's Point of View
Charlie Fairmile's got problems. He's about to start a new year at Schuyler Colfax Middle school, and his dad has been accused of bank robbery. Charlie knows that his dad is innocent, but the police insist that Mr. Fairmile must be the stocking bandit. So Charlie has no choice but to try to find the real culprit. but solving a mystery isn't always easy - especially when you're blind. With the help of his best friends, his Braille computer, and a guardian angel, Charlie sets out to unravel a crime that even the police can't seem to solve.
288 pages, Paperback
First published June 7, 2005
21 people are currently reading
209 people want to read
About the author
Richard Scrimger
35 books29 followersI was born with very little hair and very little feet and hands. They all grew together and I still have them, together with all my organs except tonsils. I do not have four children -- they have me and we all know it. I write and teach and talk about writing and other things. Actually, I talk a lot. I’m right handed, my car has a dent in the passenger side door, and my blood type is A-. The motto of South Carolina is Dum spiro spero.— success comes by breathing. I like black licorice and rice pudding and ratatouille and coffee. Lots of coffee. My hair usually needs cutting. How much more do you need to know about anybody?
I have been writing since 1996. No, that's not true. I wrote for years before that, but no one cared. Since 1996 I've published fifteen books for adults and children. You can read more about them somewhere else on this site. A few of the books did very well. Some came close. A couple didn't do well at all. My most recent offering is Ink Me, a tragicomedy about a tattoo gone wrong, told in supercool phonetic speak by our learning-disabled hero. Zomboy – an undead story – is due out next year. (My editor and I are arguing about certain scenes right now.) And I am writing a semi-graphic novel about kids who fall into a comic book.
Do you want more details? Really? Okay, then.
In 1996 I published my first novel, Crosstown (Toronto: The Riverbank Press), which was short-listed for the City of Toronto Book Award.
Humorous short pieces about my life as an at-home dad with four small children used to appear regularly in the Globe & Mail and Chatelaine, and can still be found fairly regularly on the back page of Today's Parent. I reworked some of this material into a full-length chunk of not-quite-non-fiction, which was published by HarperCollins as Still Life With Children.
I started writing children's fiction in 1998. Two middle-school novels, The Nose From Jupiter and The Way To Schenectady did well enough to require sequels. There are four Norbert books so far, and two Peelers.
My work has received a lot of attention in Canada and The United States. The Nose From Jupiter is a Canadian bestseller. It won a Mr Christie Book Award, was on most of the top ten lists and has been translated into a Scottish dozen languages (that’s less than 12). Bun Bun’s Birthday, From Charlie’s Point of View, Mystical Rose, and Into the Ravine made a variety of short lists and books of the year – Quill and Quire, Canadian Library Association, Globe and Mail, Chicago Public Library, Time Out NY (kids), blah blah. Ink Me is part of the “7” series – linked novels featuring seven grandsons with quests from their common grandfather. Pretty cool, eh? As my most recent book, it is my current favorite. But watch out for Zomboy next year. It’s a killer!
I have been writing since 1996. No, that's not true. I wrote for years before that, but no one cared. Since 1996 I've published fifteen books for adults and children. You can read more about them somewhere else on this site. A few of the books did very well. Some came close. A couple didn't do well at all. My most recent offering is Ink Me, a tragicomedy about a tattoo gone wrong, told in supercool phonetic speak by our learning-disabled hero. Zomboy – an undead story – is due out next year. (My editor and I are arguing about certain scenes right now.) And I am writing a semi-graphic novel about kids who fall into a comic book.
Do you want more details? Really? Okay, then.
In 1996 I published my first novel, Crosstown (Toronto: The Riverbank Press), which was short-listed for the City of Toronto Book Award.
Humorous short pieces about my life as an at-home dad with four small children used to appear regularly in the Globe & Mail and Chatelaine, and can still be found fairly regularly on the back page of Today's Parent. I reworked some of this material into a full-length chunk of not-quite-non-fiction, which was published by HarperCollins as Still Life With Children.
I started writing children's fiction in 1998. Two middle-school novels, The Nose From Jupiter and The Way To Schenectady did well enough to require sequels. There are four Norbert books so far, and two Peelers.
My work has received a lot of attention in Canada and The United States. The Nose From Jupiter is a Canadian bestseller. It won a Mr Christie Book Award, was on most of the top ten lists and has been translated into a Scottish dozen languages (that’s less than 12). Bun Bun’s Birthday, From Charlie’s Point of View, Mystical Rose, and Into the Ravine made a variety of short lists and books of the year – Quill and Quire, Canadian Library Association, Globe and Mail, Chicago Public Library, Time Out NY (kids), blah blah. Ink Me is part of the “7” series – linked novels featuring seven grandsons with quests from their common grandfather. Pretty cool, eh? As my most recent book, it is my current favorite. But watch out for Zomboy next year. It’s a killer!
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 42 reviews
April 26, 2008
an interesting mystery story. the protagonist, charlie, is blind, which makes the story that much more interesting. in addition to the appeal of a mystery, you also get a glimpse into the life of a blind person and his best friend, bernadette, who goes pretty much everywhere with him and helps him to “see.” there is also a mysterious character named gideon who might possibly be an angel and who has the ability to turn back time (sort of… maybe?) and who throws small rubber balls like you might get in a kids grab bag. there is also the nerdy friend, lewis, who has diarrhea of the mouth and unfortunate parents and bully, frank, who might have a crush on bernadette. the mystery has a few twists and turns, but it was the characters and the occasionally vivid descriptions that kept me entertained enough to read this book in about a day. here’s an example: “a sports car roars along…blue-toned headlights stabbing the gloom like skewers into raw meat.” upbeat, edgy, a fun read.
April 4, 2021
Not much action but still a good book.
May 15, 2011
I don't usually read mysteries, but this one may have changed my mind. This is a fast-paced story about Charlie, who is blind, his best friend Bernadette, and the "new kid," Lewis. Very quirky and unusual with a title and cover that need some work. As a side note, I couldn't figure out if the kids were Canadian or American. Our characters are in seventh grade, but refer to it as grade 7, which is a Canadian thing, but then they also mention America's Most Wanted. The author is Canadian, so maybe that the cause for confusion.
September 25, 2010
wow...It was really good, but it got really confusing from time to time since the story is showing what lots of different people are doing.
It's the story of Charlie Fairmile, a blind kid growing up with his best friend, Bernadette Lyall. With some help with their new friend, Lewis, they go off to find the Stocking Bandit after Charlie's dad is accused for the robberies. It was really well written.
It's the story of Charlie Fairmile, a blind kid growing up with his best friend, Bernadette Lyall. With some help with their new friend, Lewis, they go off to find the Stocking Bandit after Charlie's dad is accused for the robberies. It was really well written.
Currently reading
November 28, 2015Well I think that this book was a good mystery because Charlie is blind and Bernadette and Lewis were trying to prove that Charlie's dad is not guilty and even though the police think that his father is guilty but Charlie still believes that he is innocent in conclusion Junior dies and Mr. Culverhouse solves the case and gets rewarded
April 15, 2011
THIS BOOK WOULD BE THE PERFECT BOOK TO READ WHEN YOU HAVE NOTHING TO DO
May 21, 2010
i loved it!!!!!!!
July 31, 2023
I read this as a kid, and forgot the name tip about 15 years later when I bought it again. I love Mr. Scrimgers writing style, and there are so many quotes that stand out to me. I did not remember there being as much heavy content relating to parents from the first time I read it, but I did find it made it somewhat more empathetic for me. Great story, lovely writing.
May 21, 2019
Loved this book when I read it as a kid. So funny, unique, and a good mystery! One of the ones I'll always remember.
October 31, 2022
That book is so good that it should have a sequel!
March 16, 2023
Awesome book!
January 27, 2018
A fascinating story about a blind boy who tries to solve a criminal investigation to save his dad from going to prison and moving away from New York to leave his friends.
August 7, 2010
Charlie and Bernadette are neighbors in the same apartment building, and best friends. They will be starting the school year, their first year of middle school, together. Charlie, who lives with his doting parents, is blind, or as he like to call himself "hadicapped", in the way horses are handicapped to make the race fair when one has exceptional abilities. Indeed, he may be blind, but he has other senses that are very acute, including the ability to just know what time it is. Bernadette lives with her alcoholic mother and thinks often of her father, whom she hasn't seen in years. While riding the bus on their first day of school, Bernadette witnesses a bank robber running from a bank. She wonders if it is a real robbery or a film being made...Meanwhile, the two friends encounter Frank, the class bully;Lewis, an opportunistic little survivor who latches onto them; and the mysterious Gideon, who always appears at just the right moment to save them from Frank. They meet their new teacher,Mr. Floyd, whom Lewis pronounces "cool", and the French teacher, who looks so much like Bernadette's father, it is unsettling. A new year in a new school is enough to cope with, but when Charlie's dad is accused of being a bank robber and carted off to the police station, Charle, Bernadette, and Lewis become a band of sleuths to figure out who really robbed the bank and where the money is now. If you follow the clues carefully, you may figure out "whodunit", but there are many twists and turns in this plot---enough to keep you guessing. Richard Scrimger is an award-winning Canadian author wno admits that he is "very nearsighted".
April 18, 2008
Charlie and Bernadette are two newly minted middle graders who need each other. Bernadette's home life leaves much to be desired. Her mom's got substance abuse problems and a fixation on murdering Bernadette's absent dad with her bare hands. Charlie offers some sense of purpose and connectedness. He's funny, good looking, has an uncanny sense of what time it is, makes good folded napkin cranes and is "stone blind, bottom-of-a-midnight-well blind." Bernadette is an exceptional guide-friend.
Joined by Lewis Ellief, a quirky insecure tag-along, and Gideon, a super-confident classmate that appears in the nick of time (along with a celestial soundtrack) to avert disaster, the kids bravely face the challenges of middle school: bullies, odd-ball teachers, dog attacks, wild bus rides, sneering peers, and mind-bending assignments. And if weren't enough, Charlie's dad has been charged with a string of cash-machine robberies, and the friends set out to discover the real culprit.—from Amazon?
I loved the quirky characters and how they formed their own support network. The adults in the book are not positively portrayed and the kids are shown to be much smarter. Still I liked the care and interaction between the characters, their understanding and humor. The mystery adds additional appeal.
Joined by Lewis Ellief, a quirky insecure tag-along, and Gideon, a super-confident classmate that appears in the nick of time (along with a celestial soundtrack) to avert disaster, the kids bravely face the challenges of middle school: bullies, odd-ball teachers, dog attacks, wild bus rides, sneering peers, and mind-bending assignments. And if weren't enough, Charlie's dad has been charged with a string of cash-machine robberies, and the friends set out to discover the real culprit.—from Amazon?
I loved the quirky characters and how they formed their own support network. The adults in the book are not positively portrayed and the kids are shown to be much smarter. Still I liked the care and interaction between the characters, their understanding and humor. The mystery adds additional appeal.
February 11, 2010
For the most part this book was an enjoyable read. There were though two problems that knocked it down from three stars to two:
One was the character of Gideon. Gideon was a guardian angel that made no sense. He didn't see to fit in with the setting of the rest of the story - which read more like Andrew Clements or Dan Gutman story. Comic but, real. Nor did Gideon help with most of the plot. Gideon main purpose seems to be allow the author a gimmick to get his characters out of tough situtions and not much else.
Spolier Alert:
My main problem though is the solution to the mystery I felt was an unfair one for the reader. Don't want to give anything away but, I didn't catch to many clues pointing to the right solution.
One was the character of Gideon. Gideon was a guardian angel that made no sense. He didn't see to fit in with the setting of the rest of the story - which read more like Andrew Clements or Dan Gutman story. Comic but, real. Nor did Gideon help with most of the plot. Gideon main purpose seems to be allow the author a gimmick to get his characters out of tough situtions and not much else.
Spolier Alert:
My main problem though is the solution to the mystery I felt was an unfair one for the reader. Don't want to give anything away but, I didn't catch to many clues pointing to the right solution.
May 28, 2008
CIP: Best friends Bernadette and Charlie begin seventh grade and help unravel the mysterious case of the Stocking Bandit.
This story of a blind boy and his sighted classmate/neighbor girl nicely displays the abilities of each child. It shows what the children can do without adult help and what each child thinks of other peoples reactions/actions toward blind people. Any child interested in adventures/mysteries will enjoy this read. I'd put it at a 5th-8th gr reading level. I would definitely use this in a booktalk to students or teachers at schools!
Reviewed in School Library Journal and Publishers Weekly.
This story of a blind boy and his sighted classmate/neighbor girl nicely displays the abilities of each child. It shows what the children can do without adult help and what each child thinks of other peoples reactions/actions toward blind people. Any child interested in adventures/mysteries will enjoy this read. I'd put it at a 5th-8th gr reading level. I would definitely use this in a booktalk to students or teachers at schools!
Reviewed in School Library Journal and Publishers Weekly.
September 23, 2015
I think I started this book because I liked the cover...and then I got sucked into the story. Charlie and his friend Bernadette know they must clear his dad's good name (he's accused of robbing a bank). Charlie knows his dad is innocent, but the police insist he is the villain. Oh, and btw, Charlie is blind, his perspective adds a lot to the typical mystery. The book is also separated into different 'scenes' from different characters points of view and little side notes/dreams/fantasies where their imaginations run wild. Really liked it!
March 9, 2016
Charlie is starting middle school when his father is charged with robbing banks. Charlie decides that he is going to have to solve the murder as the police are convinced they have the right person. Oh, and did I mention that Charlie is blind?
I really wanted to like this book, but it just didn't work for me. I felt like it was tackling too many different themes plus a mystery. And by biting off more than it could chew, none of the aspects really worked. And some of the characters' voices are just really off. Not a total dud of a book, but far less that what I had hoped.
I really wanted to like this book, but it just didn't work for me. I felt like it was tackling too many different themes plus a mystery. And by biting off more than it could chew, none of the aspects really worked. And some of the characters' voices are just really off. Not a total dud of a book, but far less that what I had hoped.
July 3, 2011
i really like it so much especially mysteries. Plus this story is different from other mysteries that i read which has Charlie's point of view, which he is blind! I never heard of a blind kid being able to solve mysteries. In this mystery Charlie and his friends are helping him to find the bandit who took tons of twenty dollar bills so that his father won't be in jail. Man this is getting interesting every single moment and very single word I read I want to know more.
January 11, 2009
Careful, though- there is a bit of profanity here and there, and one of the supporting characters has a drinking mother-- I edited these things out a bit before reading it out loud. But the kids loved it-- Charlie is blind, and he and his friends are trying to solve a mystery that is greatly affecting his life.
March 5, 2015
When his father is falsely accused of a bank robbery and being the notorious Stocking Bandit, Charlie Fairmile is determined to set the record straight and clear his father's good name by venturing on a dangerous quest with a few of his closest friends to search the city streets and dark underground crypts and discover the identity of the real culprit.
November 29, 2010
I loved this book. I frist read it in middle school but it's one that I go back to time and time again. I love how Scrimger captures the world how charlie "sees" it, how Charlie's blindness is almost a secondary factor. Most of the time it's like he's not really blind. From the twists and the surprises to the entirley real characters, Scrimger has truly written a book worth reading.
March 23, 2016
I liked this book because it was kind of written in play form meaning there were different scenes within the chapters. The characters were interesting and had their on views on what happened in the story. There were things that I wasn't expecting during the story. The book had me wondering and wanting to find out more about the mystery and who committed the crime.
December 30, 2008
A curious book. Interesting characters, though I'm not sure I really understood what Gideon is all about... Is he supernatural? An angel or deity? Or just a very very strange plot device who loves rubber balls? I'm baffled, and yet I very much enjoyed this book.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 10, 2013
- blind gr. 7 boy, outcast girl, and odd boy solve a mystery
- quick, page-turning read
- odd characters and far-fetched plot
- some inappropriate language
- interest level: gr. 6 - 8
- reading level: gr. 7
- quick, page-turning read
- odd characters and far-fetched plot
- some inappropriate language
- interest level: gr. 6 - 8
- reading level: gr. 7
September 28, 2013
Really nice little detective book with the main character being blind and trying to solve a mystery to save his father from going to jail with his 2 friends. Loved the little gags that the book has. Really fun book to read.
January 24, 2008
A fast-moving, mystery novel for YA readers.
July 31, 2008
This is really good. READ IT! I order you to!!! It's soooo good!!!
March 1, 2008
It was pretty good. The whole way through I was trying to figure out "whodunit" :)
THUMBS UP!
THUMBS UP!
October 13, 2008
This book is about a boy named Charlie and he's blind. His dad got arrested for commiting a robbery but he was really innocent. Charlie and his friends are going to find out the truth.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 42 reviews