Charlotte Sometimes (New York Review Children's Collection)

It is amazing how many people have read, Charlotte Sometimes, because of The Cure, myself included. The opening line of this book, is also the opening line of The Cure song of the same name, Charlotte Sometimes: "All the faces, all the voices blur. Change to one face, change to one voice....." Anyone who knows the song will find it impossible to read that line without singing it in their head, or even out loud!I first read this book back the the 1980's when The Cure released the song "Charlotte Sometimes," and then I read it again recently. Its a magical story of time travel between two girls, I really enjoyed reading this beautiful story. The story of Charlotte and Claire's times travel is truly magical and exciting. It gets a bit sad near the end, parts are a bit dark, but in a good way. The story will really bring out a child's emotions and make them think, its books like this that will give children a love of reading.Although this is a children's book, I truly believe it can be enjoyed by all ages. Its a long time since I was a child! ;)[...]

This is a low fantasy time-travel novel published in 1969. The story is simply told in a clear prose style. It is about a girl in a boarding school in the late 1950s who sleeps in a bed and wakes up as someone else in 1918 - the girls change places from day to day until the girl from the 50s gets stuck in 1918 when that girl is removed from the school. The rest of the narrative deals with her adjustment to living in 1918 and her attempts to get back. It's really a lovely tale, well told. I was immediately taken with Charlotte and the other characters. I believed them as characters and felt that the dynamics of their relationships rang true. There is a séance and the armistice and suspense and fantasy. Low fantasy narratives are a passion - extraordinary things happening to everyday people - "The Twelve And The Genii" by Pauline Clarke was a recent favorite, "The Children of Green Knowe" by L.M. Boston, "Tuck Everlasting" by Natalie Babbitt are also highly recommended.

The book that inspired the song Charlotte Sometimes by The Cure. This makes the story extra special for this Cure fan!! That aside the story is beautiful! Follow young Charlotte as she begins boarding school only to discover that she sleeps she trades places with a girl of the same age and initials from the same school fifty years in the past.

One of my absolute favorite books from when I was younger. I have looked for it everywhere and it has always been outrageously priced! I was so pleased to find it at this price on Amazon. It is such a magical story, and so interesting to read about the differences in the two time periods portrayed in the book. The twist in the story makes it so suspenseful. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes time travel/science fiction stories! I only wish it was a series!

In the 1990s I was a fan of The Cure's music, and Charlotte Sometimes was one of my favorite songs. Imagine my surprise when I discovered it was the title of a children's book as well - I was visiting a friend's house several years later and I spotted the odd title on her shelf. Reading the book was a revelation as I finally understood the lyrics to a richly layered song about a journey through time, and spent time with fascinating characters and situations. I still can't really imagine Robert Smith reading the book, but I am glad that he or someone in the band did, because it was well worth it. I bought it for my 8-year-old daughter and she loves it (and the song) too. Enjoy!

This story was an interesting take on the time travel theme. I appreciated the details, and there were some aspects of the story I wanted to learn more about, like Miss Agnes and Sarah's mom visiting her sister during the later years. I found Charlotte's experiences engaging and would like to learn more about Clare's experiences during the longer transition. Overall an enjoyable story to read.

Bought this after learning one of my favorite songs by the Cure was based on it (line for line, in parts). It's a children's novel, but was enjoyable for me as an adult. Worth checking out.

Great little book. I love the song by The Cure, so I thought I would get this. Glad I did.

I read this 9+ years timeslip novel for my own pleasure. It is rather old-fashioned and dour, set in a world of darkness and drabness and loss, but the characters are psychologically quite well-written, and it's very realistic in tone.Charlotte starts at a new boarding school in the 1960s, and is put in a special bed. When she sleeps there, sometimes she wakes up at the same boarding school, but it's now World War I, she is in the body of a different girl called Claire, and there is a little sister present, Emily, who swiftly finds out that Charlotte is an imposter. When this happens, Claire is inhabiting Charlotte's body in the 1960s, and they revert back on the next sleep. At first it is just an inconvenience, attending each other's classes and doing each other's homework, and they write notes to each other across the decades to try to keep track of it all.Then the WWWI-era headmistress sends "Claire" and Emily to board with a local family, and Charlotte is trapped in an alien time. While she is trying to get back to the 1960s, the family they're boarding with are saturated with grief for their son, who has died in the war, and the deaths of many fathers and brothers of the other schoolgirls are referred to as well. The war ends and there is celebration - but what is going to happen to Charlotte? Will she have to grow old in this time, staying there forever?

I first heard this book on Jackanory as a child (that dates me!), and read the book many times. It's a lovely story, set in the 1960s, with the main character Charlotte swapping places on alternate days with Claire, who lives in 1918 and sleeps in the same bed at the boarding school both girls attend. Understandably this causes Charlotte many difficulties, but she also enjoys much of her time in 1918. There are also several illustrations, which I remember from the book I had as a child.What I find puzzling, and rather sad, is that this Vintage Children's Classics version has a much shorter final chapter (or maybe a complete missing final chapter) than the Puffin printed version I used to have. There was a section where Charlotte is leaving the school at the end of term, with all the girls on the coach singing a song about "no more Latin, no more French, no more sitting on a hard board bench" etc. This is not in the Kindle version - and is the reason I didn't give 5 stars.

When Charlotte Makepeace arrives as a new girl at boarding school, she finds herself feeling very apprehensive, but when she is shown to her dormitory by an older pupil who seems kind and friendly, she begins to feel just a little bit better. Told that she can choose whichever bed she would like, Charlotte is immediately drawn to the iron bedstead by the window which has little wheels with ornamental spokes and is easily the best bed in the room. However, when she wakes up the next morning, the dormitory has changed and in the bed next to her is a girl she does not recognize, but who she soon learns is supposed to be her younger sister Emily, who calls Charlotte by the name of Clare. Totally bemused, Charlotte struggles to make sense of what has happened and, as the day progresses, she realizes that she has slipped back in time by forty years to 1918 and has taken the place of Clare who sleeps in an identical iron bed to Charlotte's. And just when Charlotte begins to orient herself, she wakes up the next morning back in her own time, where she learns that during her absence Clare has taken her place. And this strange situation continues - with Charlotte sometimes being herself and other times being Clare - until something happens which traps Charlotte in Clare's time and Charlotte isn't sure that she will be able to find her way back. Although she finds her double life a fascinating experience and she has become fond of Clare's lively sister, Emily, Charlotte has a sister of her own and a home of her own that she would like to return to - but will she be able to find her way back?With some very good descriptions of situation and setting, this is an engaging story of a young girl's search for identity and of her endeavours to retain her identity and find her place in the world. Penelope Farmer has created an endearing heroine in Charlotte and the supporting characters are convincingly portrayed, especially young Emily, and also Agnes Chisel Brown, with whom Emily and Charlotte lodge for a time and whose brother has been killed in France. Ms Farmer uses her WWI setting to discuss briefly themes such as visions of courage and glory on the battlefield, and of the loss of these visions when disillusionment and fear sets in; and when news of the armistice comes through, the author takes the opportunity to show the headmistress explaining to her girls how as the women of Britain have played their part in the war, they can now no longer be denied the vote. It is true that some aspects of this story will require the reader to suspend their disbelief (I first read this as a child in the 1970s and even then it was necessary to avoid thinking too much about Charlotte's situation and the possibility of time travel), however, if you allow yourself to engage with the narrative and with the characters within, then there is much to enjoy in this imaginative and involving story. I was rather apprehensive about rereading this book all these years on, but I still found it a rewarding and entertaining read and as I managed to get a vintage Puffin copy with the original cover art and illustrations, this has been a lovely nostalgic reading experience too.4 Stars.

Charlotte has been sent off to boarding school, but when she wakes up her first morning things are not quite the same as when she went to sleep. In the same dormitory, but with different girls, and in an earlier time. Sometimes she wakes where she belongs, and sometimes not.Flicking between the present and just before the first World War, Charlotte Sometimes is an evocative read.

I read this books over forty years ago as a child of 7 and loved it then. Always remembered it and just thought would I still enjoy it forty years later. I did in fact I loved it and the only surprise was how short it seemed this time! Lasted a lot longer when I was at school. Perhaps reminded me of more simple times but just as beautifully written.