Max and the Millions

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I was sad to say goodbye to Max, Sasha, Luke and Ivy but I can’t wait to push this book in to the hands of young readers at my school.

The book alternates between different perspectives -- mostly from Max's, but also from the people from the Floor kingdom, the principal of the boarding school, Sasha, and a few others. Ross Montgomery has worked as a pig farmer, a postman, and a primary school teacher, so writing books was the next logical step. And most of all, can he keep Mr Pitt, the evil headmaster away from Mr Darrow’s room while he does it? Elements that may not be my cup of tea, but still a lot to offer for lower KS2 children as either a distracting story with a smooth introduction to the divisions of society. I was interested where the story was going to go after the first chapter but within a few more chapters, where an ‘other voice’ (trying to avoid spoilers) starts telling their side of the story, I was completely captivated.The day before summer vacation, Max's closest friend at boarding school disappears, leaving behind his amazing model collection and a handful of sand on his bedroom floor.

Max is a lonely deaf boy who uses hearing aids and finds it difficult to communicate and make friends with the other boys at his boarding school. Mistakenly identified as a deity, Max attempts to bring unity to the three countries through negotiation. His eyes had been scanning the front row to measure the effect of his dramatic sigh, but now they stopped on a single chair. While Max and his new friend Sasha fight to protect the Floor from their evil headmaster, Luke must fight to save it from being destroyed by all-out war. He has no friends, apart from the school caretaker, with whom he shares a passion for designing and building small models.There's so much to love - the mystery of Mr Darrow, the caretaker and model-maker's disappearance; the completely over the top evil headmaster; lovely friend Sasha and his tribe of Sparkle Pony little girls; and the huge kingdom of the Floor People with all their wars, politics and ridable fleas! Mr Darrow is creating amazing models like a castle for the blue team but he wants all of them to be a team because they are at war. In my opinion, this novel is definitely an adventure novel, best suited for those looking from excitement and elements of humour from their reading. The ending, I wasn't sure about, but I did come to terms with Max's decisions and saw his reasoning.

You can change your choices at any time by visiting Cookie preferences, as described in the Cookie notice. Max is used to spending time alone - it's difficult to make friends in a big, chaotic school when you're deaf. The story is told both from the perspective of Max, a normal sized kid who finds a truly amazing thing, and Luke, a tiny sized king who lives in the tiny civilization that Max discovers. Max is such a great character and the portrayal of his deafness feels very authentic (Montgomery consulted with staff and children from various schools and organisations, as well as his own early experience of hearing impairment).Despite this, I enjoyed how Max's hearing aids were an important part of the story and the focus on him making friends and developing confidence in himself and his ability to communicate. While it's certainly possible for modern digital hearing aids to pick up signals via FM loops or Bluetooth, these are already built-in functions. A fast-paced and enjoyable adventure that encourages readers to appreciate the small things in life. Then Max makes a miraculous discovery – a tiny civilisation in the pile of sand on the caretaker’s floor.