Millionaires for the Month by Stacy McAnulty - ADVISABLE

Millionaires for the Month by Stacy McAnulty, 323 pages. Penguin Random House, 2020. $17 

Content: G

BUYING ADVISORY: MS - ADVISABLE 

AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE 

12yo 7th graders Benji and Felix are not friends, but they have been partnered for the field trip to New York City. Felix follows rules, Benji does not. When the boys find a wallet in the park, Benji spends the $20 inside before giving it to their teacher to return. The wallet belongs to a billionaire who publicly rewards the school with ten thousand dollars worth of technology, but privately wants to teach the boys a lesson about money. A penny doubled everyday for a month is $5,368,709.12 and it's this amount she challenges the boys to spend, in just 30 days. There's lots of rules to follow - they can't tell anybody about the challeng, and they can't gift the money - not even to help pay for Felix's sister's wedding to her girlfriend Michelle.  But, if they succeed, they'll each get ten million dollars. But spending that much money is harder than they thought, and it's not just about finding stuff to buy. 

I loved this modern retelling of Brewster's Millions. Seeing how that kind of money affects each family differently, and its effect on each boy was wonderful. There's more to the story than just the money - it's also about friendship, and self confidence, and making your parents proud, and doing the right thing. Engaging and exciting from the first few pages, I think my middle schoolers will really like "Millionaires for the Month" 

Lisa Librarian