Millionaires for the Month

Millionaires for the Month is a realistic fiction novel written by Stacy McAnulty. The novel is 336 pages long, so it is a bit of a longer reader.  However, it does move quickly and only spans a month through the course of the book.  While this is not one of Stacy McAnulty's most well-known novels, I read this one at the recommendation of a student (thanks Wells!) and really enjoyed it. The novel addresses the dreamer's question: What would YOU do with a million dollars?  There is no movie for the novel, but it was very reminiscent for me of a movie I watched in my childhood called Blank Check. The movie is occasionally on Disney+ so it could be a great watch after reading this novel!  

Felix and Benji are furious when they are partnered on the school field trip by their teachers.  They are not friends and have no desire to change that.  Felix follows all the rules and is more of a people-pleaser, while Benji loves to break the rules and look for the easiest way out of things.  The two find a missing wallet in the park and realize it belongs to billionaire Laura Friendly!  They decide to return it to her in the hopes she will reward them handsomely for their honesty.  However, Benji decides to buy hot dogs from a street vendor with the $20 bill in her wallet.  She won't even notice it's gone, right?  A $20 bill to a billionaire is like a penny to those boys, right?  However, when they return the wallet to Laura Friendly, she does notice the bill is missing and presents a challenge to them.  A penny doubled every day for a month becomes $5,368,709.12 and the boys have ONE month to spend that amount. If they don't, all the items purchased will be taken away from them and they walk away with nothing.  If they do, each boy will get TEN million to spend however they wish.  But the challenge is not as easy as it seems - there are rules.  They cannot give away the money to others or buy gifts for others.  They must use what they purchase with the money and cannot buy certain things like real estate, vehicles, businesses, or stocks.  And then there is the hardest rule: they cannot tell ANYONE about the challenge, not even their parents. While it sounds like a lot of fun and that is should be easy to spend over $175,000 a day, the boys quickly learn it isn't as easy as they thought it would be.  Their month is filled with many lessons of creativity, friendship, and learning the true value of a penny.  

Millionaires for the Month is a clever story of every kid's dream of suddenly becoming a millionaire. Both boys and girls will love this book, but this is definitely one the guys will enjoy and be able to relate with. The book is a better fit for grades 5 - 7 because there are a few select words used by the kids, but they are minimal.  While it does touch on the subject of the boys and their middle school crushes, there is also a unique relationship between two people that may be better suited for older readers. The book does challenge the boys to be creative in finding ways to spend the money and to find loopholes in the rules to be able to use the money as quickly as possible.  It also challenges the boys to make many ethical decisions, which can help readers think deeply about right and wrong in how they make their own decisions.