Millions by Frank Cottrell Boyce

Reviewed by Mr Biddle.

I got about 40 pages into this before I realised that I had already seen the film, directed by Danny Boyle (who did the Olympics opening ceremony). The film is fine, the book is fantastic.

It is about two brothers, Damian and Anthony, who live with their father. Their mother has died and they have just moved house.  If they are ever in an awkward situation with anyone, one of them simply says "My mum's died." This usually leads to the person feeling sorry for them and giving them a chocolate biscuit.

The younger brother, Damian, is obsessed with saints and sainthood, often trying to imitate the behaviour of saints he admires (at one point he stuffs his school shirt fully of prickly holly leaves). Anthony wants to be a property developer, and make his fortune from buying and selling houses.

One night, an enormous bag of money appears (I won't tell you how). However, the boys have only a few days to spend it all before it all becomes worthless. They try buying junk objects from their friends at £10 per item which very quickly leads to every child in the school having a wad of money. The brothers then realise that they need to spend the money faster- much faster!

At school,  the boys meet a character called Dorothy who works for Water Aid. This is a charity that provides clean and safe water for countries around the world. She becomes a very important character in their lives.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It's easy to read and there are some really funny incidents. The style is quite unusual, but the relationship between the two brothers is very real. Highly recommended.