What: Millions by Frank Cottrell Boyce This is a kid's book for readers 8 and up. And I think the "and up" part is very applicable. I'm much older than 8 and I didn't find the story suffered at all from being written to a lower reading level. The book has been out for a while (2005) and even has had a movie made from it, but I just recently discovered it.
The Premise: A young boy finds a bag with a lot of money in it, and he and his brother have many adventures while trying to keep it away from the bad guys that lost it. They also have many dilemmas and disagreements on how to spend the money.
The Back Story: The story takes place in England when Europe was getting ready to change to Euros. When this change happened, the old currency was to be cashed in and destroyed. Also, the two brothers' mother has died and they live alone with their father. They are all adjusting to this loss.
The Quirky Part: Everyone in the family likes quoting facts. The father likes general knowledge facts, the brother likes money and economic facts, and Damian (narrator) likes to talk about saints (and sometimes they talk to him.) You will learn a lot of interesting things about saints from this book.
Food for Thought: The book presents the moral, ethical, and practical matters of having a lot of money. There are also basic economic lessons thrown in.
Recommendation: I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Boyce does a nice job of weaving the different parts of the story together without focusing too long on any one part. The story is both poignant and exciting with a little humor thrown in.The characters, major and minor, are interesting and well developed according to their place in the story. Let me summarize with this. When I think about this book, I smile.
What people who review books for a living said:
--"Witty and poignant. ...Readers will be racing to the finish to figure out who's conning whom. Brilliant." Publishers Weekly (starred review)
--"A joy for readers of all ages." Kirkus Review
So glad I popped over...this will be a great book for my almost 8-year-old's birthday (with the added bonus I can read it after also!). Probably will go for downloadable. Like the fact it's set in England - so Leah will be able to connect easier. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteThis book was recommended by the children's librarian at my library. I think it would make a good read aloud book for the family.
DeleteHmm, this sounds interesting. I'll see if our library has it, or can get through interlibrary loan.
ReplyDeleteI often read children's books. When we were home-schooling I read a whole slew of historical fiction (written for about age 9 -10 and older) and found them so interesting. And I didn't fully appreciate the Little House books or any of E.B. White's books, until I was an adult and was reading them with and to my kids.
I love reading kids books and miss reading them with my children. We read together as a family long past the point that they could read on their own.
DeleteA blend of poignancy and humor is my sweet spot. I'm making a note of this one. I just started using Pinterest to keep track of books I want to read. Let's see if this new mechanism works for me...
ReplyDeleteSeveral months ago, I got a Pinterest account, but decided not to pursue it. I'm afraid of how much time I would want to spend with it. Sounds like a good place to keep track of books you want to read, though.
DeleteYou might also enjoy Cosmic, by the same author: "Super-sized, eleven-year-old Liam makes a giant leap for boy-kind by competing with a group of adults for the chance to go into space." I was laughing out loud while I read it in the work kitchen during my break; I was laughing so hard my co-workers became quite concerned as they heard me gasping for air.
ReplyDeleteSounds great, but first I have to clear out the four books I'm reading right now.
Delete