Plot
After their Mum dies, Damien and Anthony move to a new house and a new school. Damien is doing his best to be good by emulating the lives of the saints, so when a sack full of money seems to fall out of the sky, he tries to give it to charity. His big brother, Anthony, is far more interested in finance. He has different ideas.
Author – Frank Cottrell-Boyce
Frank Cottrell-Boyce on Instagram
Frank Cottrell-Boyce on Twitter
Frank Cottrell-Boyce biography (Love Reading 4 Kids)
Discover more about Frank Cottrell-Boyce
|
Themes – universal ideas
Bereavement, consequences, faith, family, greed, temptation, trust, value.
More to explore – motifs, symbols, context, setting
Angels, bullying, charities, crime prevention, healthy diet, hermitages, Italian food, IMF, lies, keys, money, Mormons, nativity plays, pet birds, pizza, police, quizzes, robbery, saints, skin care, toys, WaterAid, World Bank.
Did you know?
Frank Cottrell-Boyce wrote the screenplay for Millions (i.e. the film script) first and wrote the novel afterwards.
There was a genuine “Great Train Robbery” in 1963 when thieves stole £2.5 million from a Glasgow to London Post Office train. Most of the gang were captured and sent to jail, although some escaped for a while
Further reading
Discover these titles and more
|
More about treasure
Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson is one of the most famous books about treasure ever written. Pirates, tropical islands and adventure on the high seas. The Library has a copy or you could get a free online version of the novel or a comic version.
Holes by Louis Sachar tells the story of Stanley Yelnats, a boy whose family just cannot get a break. What Stanley doesn’t know is that it all goes back to his No-good-dirty-rotten-pig-stealing-great-great-grandfather, an old curse and a hunt for lost treasure. Library copy available.
More about grief
Slog’s Dad by David Almond and Dave McKean. What would you do if your best friend told you his Dad had come back to see him one more time after he died? Library copy available.
Mockingbird by Kathryn Erskine tells the story of Caitlin, who has Asperger’s. Her big brother, who would help explain the world to her, has just been killed. Library copy available.
Missing by Catherine MacPhail is a story about a family grieving for their dead son. So how can his sister be receiving messages from him? Library copy available.
More about saints
The Children of Green Knowe by Lucy M. Boston is based in an old house with an old garden. When Tolly comes to stay he discovers all sorts of magic, including a statue of St Christopher and an ancient tree with an evil reputation. Library copy available.
Legends of the improbable saints by Richard Coles. A brilliant but strange collection of saints lives from St Edith of Wilton, who beat up the Devil, to St Eutychius of Phrygia, who fell asleep and dropped from a window ledge but then raised from the dead. Library copy available.
Literacy and Language
Damien’s Dad knows a lot of collective nouns. Try this collective noun quiz for yourself.
St Nicholas is the only saint that doesn’t speak to Damien in English, even though the saints come from across the world and would originally have spoken different languages. St Nicholas speaks in Latin, which is still an official language of the Roman Catholic Church. Can you see a connection?
At one point in the book, Damien begins to call the robber, “Glass Eye”, naming one part of him but meaning the whole person. This is a figure of speech called synecdoche. Here’s more examples.
Numeracy
Anthony and Damien discover £229,370 which would have been exchanged for €323,056. Use the XE currency exchange website to work out how many Euros it would be worth now.
Damien uses some money to purchase some wells in Nigeria. Look at the WaterAid website to see the various items they have available. If you were spending £230,000 on Water Aid, what would you buy?
Health and Wellbeing
Damien and Antony’s Dad is determined that they have a healthy diet, so he makes sure they eat 5 pieces of fruit every day and drink a pint of water. How does this compare with current nutritional advice?
Anthony and Damien are obviously grieving for their mother, and grief is known to impact on mental health. Do you think the adults around them are properly helping them? What examples can you find?
Rights Respecting Schools
Article 14 of the UNCRC says that all children are entitled to their own religion and beliefs. So why do you think Damien’s teacher arranges for him to see a psychologist?
Do you think Article 3 (best interests of the child) and Article 5 (parental guidance) would be involved in this situation?
Do you think one of these articles is more important than the others?
Developing the Young Workforce
Anthony is very quick at solving the problems that he and Damien get themselves into. Unfortunately, it’s often by telling lies, and that usually leads to more trouble e.g. telling his father that he and Damien are in the Nativity Play.
Problem solving is an incredibly useful skill and it’s popular with employers. Can you identify any other ways that Anthony or Damien solve their difficulties in the book?
