Gr 5-8--In the fifth installment (Orchard, 2006) of the series by Jenny Nimmo, Charlie Bone has a whole new set of mysteries to figure out--and his father is still missing. The boy discovers that the shadow from the portrait of the Red King that hangs in his school has disappeared, and everyone's pets are vanishing as well. Charlie meets Naren, a strange girl who claims to know the whereabouts of the pets. As if this wasn't enough, Charlie's mother seems to have forgotten about his father and fallen in love with an enchanter. Charlie needs his friends now more than ever if he's finally going to get to the bottom of things. To fully understand the characters and situations, the books should be read in sequence. Narrator Simon Russell Beale gives each character a distinct and recognizable voice. A must for science fiction/fantasy collections where the previous volumes are popular.--Traci Glass, Southeast Regional Library, Gilbert, AZ (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.