Millions

This delightful book was both the first kids' story I've read that successfully and naturally integrated "our modern world" - internet and Harry Potter ringtones and that - without it seeming gimmicky, and, more impressive and significant, the first that integrated a Christian element without it

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being detrimental or preachy. All those Victorians could learn something. I also love the way the kid talks, even if he does say "unenlightening" a few too many times by the twisty end.

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Gorgeous book that teaches youngsters that some things in life cannot be purchased with money and that money does not solve all problems.

Damian’s got a dead mum. As his slightly older brother Anthony demonstrates, if you tell people this, you always get a result. Usually they give you something. Damian has become very interested in saints, and, trying to pray one day, tells God about his mum. So Damian is not completely surprised

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when a bag containing 229,370 pounds sterling falls out of the sky. The trouble is, what can Damian and Anthony (whose passion is real estate) do with all this money?

Damian always really tries to do what his Dad tells him. So one of his goals is to “be excellent”, but this is not always a straightforward assignment. For example, Damian considers it excellent when he is able to explain to his art class about St Sexburga, and his teacher says thank you three times, whereas Anthony interprets this as Damian making himself conspicuous.

But to get back to the money… Damian is quite adamant that the story should not be just about the money. In fact, it takes him a shorter time than most to recognise that the money is something of a burden, and not as wonderful as everyone always assumes such a windfall might be.

Damian’s plan is to use the money for a good purpose, to help him climb as many rungs as possible of the ladder to Heaven. But of course it is difficult for two young boys to resist the temptation to buy a few special treats for themselves along the way. There is also the matter of whether or not they should tell their father (who “never notices anything”) about the money. Finally, there is the question of where the money really came from, and who it should actually belong to.

Throughout the story, Damian is visited by a number of saints. Some give him advice, some complain about their current jobs, and some enjoy reminiscing about their own saintly experiences. None of them seem to have heard of a Saint Maureen, who Damian is always asking after. In addition to these visions from the past, there is also a community of Latter-day Saints living in the same neighbourhood, though Damian finds that even they are not always as admirable as he would like them to be.

The characters in this book make full use of the range of technology available to them. I still feel surprised when I read of young characters using the Internet, because I couldn’t when I was their age, but of course it is an inescapable part of modern life. Even this advancement poses a problem for the story’s heroes, as their money is all in cash, and Internet transactions require a credit card.

This book is really funny, but also has its sad side, as the author examines the nature of greed and corruption. I would recommend it to all modern children, but perhaps especially to anyone whose family or school have ever thought they were “bonkers”.

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This book had me actually laughing out loud. Damian is hilarious, albeit not consciously. He's so utterly sincere, and takes everything so seriously, so literally. And the book never seemed to patronise him. He's not an object of pity. In fact, he's fascinating and impressive.

Damian's brother

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Anthony is a bit more complex really, and most authors would have made the book about him. I wonder why Boyce decided to give us the story from Damian's point of view? Perhaps it would have been too painful (not to mention no where near as funny) from Anthony's. Damian's actually quite simple. Anthony is tragic, and it's starting to make him nasty.

So, this is a book about money, bereavement, and saints. The way Boyce, through Damian, weaves those three themes together is truly wonderful. I felt that the book started to lose momentum towards the end, which is why I didn't give it the full 5 stars, but the first half is some of the best writing I've read for a good while.

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A lovely book worth reading just for the scenes in which the saints appear. Funny and a little sad.

This was a pretty weird book, beacause the little boy was, like, obsessed with saints, and he trusted strange people that he had never met before.

This is a great book about a young english boy whose mother passed away. He is obsessed with the Catholic saints and spends most of his free time trying to "be excellent". He finds a huge bag of money and thinks that it was a gift from God. He and his brother proceed to spend the money and hilarity

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ensues as they find that it's not as much of a gift as they once thought.

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Fourth grader Damian might not be the smartest boy in school, but there are two things he knows for sure. Firstly, he knows everything about saints. Secondly, he knows that if he ever wants something, all he has to do is remind people that his mum is dead and he will be given something. When a bag

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full of money falls out of the sky three weeks before England's switchover to the Euro, Damian thinks the money must have come from God. He tries to think of a saintly way to spend it, however big brother Antony has other ideas. What follows is a rip-roaring spending spree interspersed with hilarious and touching moments.

The audio recording of this book was fantastic and I would highly recommend it for family listening. Although we have it in the teen section at my library, I see no reason it would be inappropriate for younger readers (although the concept of British pounds and switching over to the Euro might require some explaining).

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Middle-grade novel about a boy Damian who finds a bag full of cash--the catch is that it will only be worth anything for a few more days because England is switching to the Euro. The ways he and his older brother Anthony spend the money is quite funny, but the book also has suspense and sadness. My

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only criticism is that at times Damian seems a bit too dumb/naive, but really this is a great book. I'm passing it right on to my daughter.

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Very good book loved the ending

Cute story about 2 brothers who find a bag filled with British pound notes. The only problem is that England is about to adopt the Euro and the pound notes will become obsolete in just a few weeks. So much money, so little time...

wonderful tale of a 5th grader who can see long dead saints. Very close to the movie. My only regret is it was too short and ended too soon. MOre....

All the blurbs about this book focus on these two brothers who happen upon a boatload of cash (a bit under 300,000 pounds, actually - not the millions the title would lead you to think), and how they have to spend it all in 17 days, but ignore what I thought was the most fun part: the main boy's

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obsession with saints and saintly acts. That and his brother's weirdly extensive knowledge of the financial world make for a unique story that could otherwise have descended into a cliched "what if you had a million bucks" daydream. I was disappointed to learn that "totallysaints.com" doesn't actually exist (anymore, at any rate), but all in all this was a very fun - and funny - book.

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