I read some chapters aloud to my younger sister (who is cool as a cucumber by temperament) and she laughed out loud to hear his antic reasoning, proving that for those who don't identify, there is much pleasure to be had from visiting Damian's corner of kook for a while.

Frank's second novel, Framed, was published in September 2005 and shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal, the Whitbread Award and the Guardian Prize.ONE USUAL DAY, DAMIAN SAW A BAG FULL OF MONEY FALL RIGHT IN FRONT OF HIM FROM THE SKY AND THE 2 BOYS TRY TO SPEND THE 229370 POUNDS STERLING FULL OF BAG IN 17 DAYS BEFORE THE CURRENCY CHANGES. I loved the poignant humour in it, and I thought that there was an unexpected amount of philosophical depth. This was a really cute story about growing up, and learning about how great (and burdensome) money can be. DAMIAN’S BROTHER IS DISOBEDIENT AND WASTES MONEY ON RUBBISH AND WHENEVER SOMEONE CATCHES HIM OR GETS SUSPICIOUS, HE SAY’S ,MY “MY MOM IS DEAD” (WHICH IS TRUE) TO GET OUT OF TROUBLE OR TO GET GIFTS.

This edition of Frank Cottrell-Boyce’s Carnegie Medal-winning Millions features fantastic cover artwork from the brilliant Steven Lenton. Funny, thought-provoking and thoroughly entertaining, this outstanding novel was a deserving winner of the 2004 CILIP Carnegie Medal.Steven has also written his own picture book ‘Princess Daisy and the Dragon and the Nincompoop Knights’ and his new illustrated fiction series ‘Genie and Teeny’. The ceremony was met with worldwide acclaim and even included a section inspired by children's books. Set in England just before British adoption of the euro (a fictional event) the story features two boys who must decide what to do with a windfall in expiring currency.

There were also many sad parts of the story including the boys’ dead mom, losing all their money and being robbed because all of those problems in the story were negative. But with only 17 days left before the national currency switches to Euros and the money becomes worthless, this proves to be much more difficult than they had anticipated. Damian, who makes his hermitage by the train tracks, encounters a bag stuffed with millions and millions of pounds, about to be destroyed as Britain (in this book's universe) is about to convert its currency to the euro. The book was not very relatable because the circumstances and topics in this book aren’t very commonly seen in my life personally and I haven’t had any real life experience with any of the event in this book. This experience has been fantastic primarily for the children, the school and also for me (professionally).Then there are problems other than the money, like Dorothy, whom the boys are convinced aims to replace their mother, whose death aches still. Damian, on the other hand, feels the “weight” of the money on his shoulders, and constantly looks for needy people and good causes whom he can help out. Some parts were a little outlandish, but that's often the case with children's books so it didn't bother me. It is quite an emotional book and at different times made me feel angry, sad, happy and gave me a sense of dread.

The younger brother (and narrator) Damian tries his best to be excellent and to do good work every day. As a child I would have read and enjoyed this several times, for the simple adventure once, and then a reread for figuring out the mysteries and puzzles and the how-to of economics, and then a nostalgic reread would have given me a chance to appreciate Damian's obsession and visions. The author also used a lot of symbolism and figurative language throughout the story representing things like family, the boys’ mother and greed among other things.Other than that, though, Millions was a good read, and I recommend it to people looking for a fairly challenging book. I think this story worked because the book showed both before and after the characters gained all the money and it made me see that the characters were more likable in the beginning of the novel.