MillionsAuthor: Frank Cottrell Boyce Reviewer:Cierra Kitt Damian and his brother Anthony move in with their father because their mom died. Ever since Damian’s mom died he always believes in saints because he thinks it will get him closer to his mom. I think he is still shocked about it because he always says “My Mum’s dead”. Everyone always tells him that “She’s is a better place” (pg. 39). Damian goes to the hermitage (a place he likes to go to pray about his mom). While he is there a bag full of millions of dollars falls from the sky right in front of him. He thinks it is God answering his prayer. The problem is that Damian only has seventeen days to spend all the money in the bag because the money system was changing to a new one called “Euros”. Damian and Anthony spend some of his money on the things they like such as toys and cars. Then they give some of the money to the poor and the saints. Damian doesn’t want anyone to steal the money so he hides the rest of the money in a sand box. Then the next day when they come home from school they realize that crooks stole the rest of the money that was in the bag! So Damian and Anthony set out to find the thief. They think of two different suspects but eventually they find their money and end up with 20,345 Euros. At the end, Anthony says, “And so they failed to make proper use of their once in a life time investment opportunity and they all regretted it ever after.” (pg. 246)One of the main characters is Damian Cunningham. He is loses his mom because she died and he spends a lot of time praying, and talking about saints. I think he does this because he thinks it will bring him closer to his mom. Damian seems adventurous because he explores around the town to find the saints he is looking for and the crooks who stole the money. Damian is not selfish and he is always wants to help other people. Another main character is Damian’s brother, Anthony Cunningham. He is the opposite of Damian. Anthony is very greedy he really only cares about the money. He also seems intelligent because of the way figures out where to hide the money.tThe conflict in the book is for Damian and Anthony to find a way to get rid of the money in seventeen days because it is in the old form of money and the money system is changing to a new one( Euros). They solve the conflict by Damian saying “what if we find some saints and give some money to them then let’s donate some to the poor”. The next day they try and find where the saints and the poor live, but before they can get to the house where the saints live they see a saint walking past them so they gave him some money from the bag. At the end of the story they were able to change the leftover money at the bank for Euros.tI do not like the book because it doesn’t have enough excitement and suspense in it. All of my favorite books have lot of suspense. I also do not like the fact that Damian’s mom dies. I know it is not a true story but that makes me sad and feel bad for Damian and his brother!
The book “Millions” by Cottrell Boyce is about a boy named Damian finding a big bag full of money near the railway. He and his brother have to get rid of the thousands of pounds before the day when it all becomes worthless. I would rate this book 4 out of 5 because of it’s interesting characters and unique storyline.First of all, the characters in this book have very different personalities. For example the protagonist Damian. Damian is a year 5 boy that has an unusual obsession with saints and being excellent. He is knowledgable about the things he is passionate for, but a naive kid with not much experience when it comes to dealing with life. Althought he is naive, he knows how to use money maturely. He tries to give money to the poor, and wants to build wells for those who don’t have enough water. His brother Anthony has a completely different personality, he has an obsession with money. He knows a lot about the history and purpose of money, this makes him mature when dealing with serious life decisions. However, when he tries to spend the money, he starts buying lots of valuable things from the shops and from his classmates all for himself, and goes out of control like any other 10 year old would when he has thousands of pounds to spend.The storyline is very unique and interesting when two naive kids deal with a robbery. It makes it feel very dangerous but funny because sometimes they don’t understand what is actually going on. Other than that, there is also a very sad and touching story behind it about their mum. The only thing that dragged this book down to 4 stars is that the storyline is too unrealistic. It is very unlikely to find a bag full of money beside a railway even if there was a robbery. Such a big amount of money will be the centre of attention on the news, so it wouldn’t be hard to find where it is especially if it was in the hands of two young children.Overall, I liked the book a lot, it was very funny and heart warming. It wasn’t very long but it was still easy to understand.
An interesting read. I enjoyed the innocent, younger tone of the narrator paired with the more, sophisticated topic. The structure of the novel is neat and clear, simplistic vocabulary is used and the variety of characters is pleasing. However, I personally found the sequencing of the invents a little confusing, with more and more problems rising in the plot where least expected. Other than that, though, Millions was a good read, and I recommend it to people looking for a fairly challenging book.
—8038
I have enjoyed every book I have read by Frank Cottrell Boyce. He writes fast moving quirky stories with lots of heart. This book reads like a mad cap comic adventure/mystery/coming of age tale but is also a study in childhood grief and as is usual for this author the father son relationship is central to the plot . Damien's literal take on life, his pure heart, and his obsession with the lives of catholic saints is classic Cottrell Boyce and is both hilarious and poignant.GREAT book for middle grade boys. Another book which makes me wish goodreads allowed me to use 1/2 stars because this book is worthy of more than three but less than four. So by default I give it three.
—Amanda
Millions, by Frank Cotrell Boyce, is in imaginative story about two boys' struggle to cope with the recent loss of their mother. When a bag stuffed with money mysteriously falls from the sky, the narrator and protagonist, Damian Cunningham, finds himself with some mature choices to make, and he will do the right thing no matter what the consequences may be.In this story, I enjoyed how much insight you got into Damian's mind. As a young boy growing up in a difficult world, it was interesting to see his view on the situation. It was an enchanting story overall.On the other hand, this book rambled on at times. There was definitely details included that weren't necessary, and that made the book drag on. At times, Damian would do things that we, as older readers, wouldn't understand and that frustrated me. That would be the reason why I rated this book 3/5 stars.Overall, this book was in interesting story about how one young man struggles to make his way through life without the support he needs, and how that affects the actions he takes when his life seemingly gets better.
—Graciela Smet
