Julie is thinking of nothing more than sneaking makeup from her friend’s mom and getting boys to notice her as she finishes summer term of Year Six. Then one day Mongolian brothers Chingis and Nergui appear in her classroom, and they appoint her their “good guide,” the person who will help them learn about their new home.

Suddenly Julie wants to know more about these strange brothers who seem very good at manipulating teachers and students into getting what they want, but who reveal little of themselves and are afraid of demons. Julie takes her role as good guide seriously, and she’s determined to find out more about the Mongolia Chingis speaks of and why he’s so protective of his younger brother.

Equally heartbreaking, funny and moving, Frank Cottrell Boyce’s The Unforgotten Coat is a small book with a big heart. It tells a story of family, emigration, hope and possibilities that will carry you along as it tranforms Bootle, England into the steppes of Mongolia. As in his other works, Millions, Framed and Cosmic, Boyce portrays children who are innocent, yet in their naiveté understand basic truths better than many adults.

From Chengis and Nergui, Julie learns to look at the world around her with fresh eyes. The Unforgotten Coat may inspire you to do the same. I highly recommend it for mother-daughter book clubs with girls aged 9 to 14.

The publisher provided me with a copy of this book for review.

When my mother-daughter book club with Catherine read Framed by Frank Cottrell Boyce, we had a long discussion about the many layers of meaning to be found in this seemingly simple story. Here’s what two of the moms had to say:

You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll kiss your bad mood goodbye. If you enjoyed Millions, you’ll also get a kick out of Framed! This story of a young boy trying to hold his family and his town together has lots of humor and affection and a little mystery too. The characters are both quirky and endearing, from the child-like, Ninja turtle fan to the elderly sisters who have “cooperative” driving skills! It’ll warm the cockles of your heart. Whatever those are. — Lisa W., Portland, Oregon

This is a little gem of a book. It’s the story of a sleepy little town in Wales called Manod where nothing seems to happen, until one day something wonderful changes everything. The story is told by young Dylan Hughes, the only boy left in town, whose family runs the Manod gas station. Through his innocent, friendly voice we get to know his family and lots of the town’s people. Just when Manod seems about to fall off the map and the family is in deep financial trouble, the National Gallery in London decides to store all its paintings in an abandoned mine in the little town to protect them from local flooding. As, one by one, the people of Manod get exposed to the beautiful artwork, gradual changes take place that will warm your heart and save the town. This story has adventure, mystery and humor, but mostly it is about people and a town discovering not only who they are, but who they can be. My daughter and I both loved it! –  Ellen S., Portland, Oregon

And here’s my review:

What happens to a grey, Welsh town with a depressed economy and dwindling population when world-famous art arrives there for storage in an old mine? Find out in this wonderful tale of what it means to be part of a family and a community. Told through the voice of Dylan Hughes, the only boy left in the town of Manod, Framed will introduce you to a town full of eccentric characters who are inspired by the masterpieces they see to create great changes in themselves and in Manod. It’s a heart-warming, funny tale that’s great to read aloud.

My daughters and I all love author Frank Cottrell Boyce’s books for young readers. Here’s a review my daughter Madeleine wrote for Cosmic.

An excellent book. I love Cottrell’s writing style, have enjoyed his other works, and am adding this to my new list of favorites. As with Cottrell’s other books, Millions and Framed, Cosmic is written from a child’s perspective, lending an interesting and unique outlook to all the events that take place. It is also an entirely original story, like nothing I have ever read before. While narrated by, and written for, a young boy, this cleverly written book can be enjoyed by readers of all ages. –  Madeleine H., Portland, Oregon

And here’s my review:

Frank Cottrell Boyce’s new book Cosmic can be appreciated on many different levels, which means both children and adults will enjoy reading it. Twelve-year-old Liam is constantly being treated as though he’s much older, simply because he’s tall and mature-looking for his age. Boyce sprinkles in many keen life insights beginning on the very first page when Liam says, “everyone lies about their age. Adults pretend to be younger. Teenagers pretend to be older. Children wish they were grown-ups. Grown-ups wish they were children.”

When Liam pretends to be a dad with a daughter who is actually his classmate just so he can win a contest, he finds himself off on an adventure he could have never imagined. He keeps his cool, learning how to be “dadly” by watching other dads and drawing upon lessons he learned playing World of Warcraft.

Liam’s innocent observations on human behavior are very funny and perceptive, and you’ll keep turning the pages to see where they lead to next. At it’s heart, Cosmic is a love story about dads—what it means to be one as well as what it means to have one. I highly recommend it.

Before writing Millions and Framed for young audiences, Frank Cottrell Boyce was already a well-known screenwriter, with scripts for Welcome to Sarajevo and 24 Hour Party People, among others, to his credit. But many people are glad he turned his pen to writing children’s books that are truly delightful for all ages. Boyce uses humor to help the life lessons sprinkled throughout the pages of his work go down easy, and his characters have a way of lingering in your memory long after the book is finished.

Boyce recently took time to answer questions in an e-mail interview for MotherDaughterBookClub.com. Here he talks candidly about writing, his characters, and new works to look forward to. (From an interview in April 2007)

How did you become a writer?

FB: How or why? I can remember the day that the decision was made. I was in year six (so I’d be 11) and we’d been given a piece of class work to do about Vikings. It was a lovely fresh February day and for some reason I decided that I’d make a bit of an effort with this piece of work. I put some jokes in and some nice adjectives and I illuminated the first letter making it look like the figurehead of a longboat. My teacher was a nice old nun called Sister Paul. She collected the work and the moment she picked it up I could tell she knew something was going on. After break she read it out to the whole class. I wish I could remember the jokes now but they must have been good because everyone laughed all the way through and that was a wonderful feeling. I imagine it’s the feeling you get when you win a race or something. If she’d asked me to read the piece out myself I probably would have wanted to become a stand-up comedian but there was something delicious about being able to sit back and watch her get the laughs. She was bright red by the end and her eyes were all twinkly. It was as though she’d briefly become one of the children, she was enjoying herself so much. I felt like a magician. And all I’d done was played about with the word order and thrown in a couple of unexpected metaphors. I’ve spent the rest of my life trying to regain the unexpected magic of that morning.

The main characters in both Millions and Framed are young boys. Why is that?

FB: Oohhh. I’m not sure really. In Millions it just worked out that way – it felt like a story about brothers. Then when I started getting letters and messages from people a huge number said the same thing – i.e. “my little boy would never read books but he read this one.” There is a problem in England about getting boys to read so I suppose in Framed I consciously decided to write something that boys would like but that wasn’t necessarily car chases and guns.

I believe you have seven children; how many are boys?

FB: Four.

Are you planning anything that will feature girls as main characters?

FB: Well I think Minnie is one of the best characters in Framed—she’s certainly taking up a lot of room in the screenplay.  And there’s a very vibrant girl called Florida Digby in my new book—Cosmic.

Do you talk to your children about ideas for your books?

FB: Yes. But they’re very harsh. I read my new book to them at Christmas and they hated it so much I had to start again. My ten-year-old son loves Millions and can more or less recite the first chapter.

Do you base your characters on people in your life?

FB: Not consciously but afterwards I recognize certain things about them. For instance Dylan is lonely for male company and my ten year old is just the same. He has three brothers but two of them are much older and one of them is a lot younger. So he has no one to play football with except me. So I guess there’s a lot of Dylan in him. Also because he has older brothers and sisters, he has a big vocabulary that he doesn’t necessarily understand. So I think a lot of Anthony’s talk about mortgages and tax relief etc. comes from that.

You wrote both the book and screenplay for Millions. Are you happy with the way the movie turned out?

FB: Well the movie took a lot more time that the book and we shot it over a glorious summer near my home in Liverpool. I’m in the film! I put so much of myself into the film that I can’t judge it at all. When I watch it now it’s like watching a home movie of a particularly happy time.

What would you do if you suddenly got millions of pounds?

FB: I would like to think I would be like Damian but I think there’s a bit of an Anthony in all of us. Seriously WaterAid is a great charity and some of the profits from both the book and the film go there.

The character Damian in Millions is a devout Catholic. Does religion play an important role in your life?

FB: Well I’m a Catholic too. I guess there’s a lot of me in both Damian and Anthony—I think if you add them up (or subtract one from the other?) you get me.

In Framed, Dylan unwittingly stumbles onto some of the greatest art in the world. Are you a big fan of art?

FB: I think so. My Mum and Dad used to take me to the local art gallery a lot (it was free!) and of course since becoming a filmmaker I’ve really learnt to appreciate people who can tell a story with pictures. Except in a film you get 25 pictures per second to do it with and if you’re a great artist you can do it with one picture.

I understand that Framed is being made into a movie. Did you write the screenplay and when can we expect to see it?

FB: I’m writing the screenplay and hoping it will be shot next Spring for broadcast the following Christmas. (Note: The film debuted in Great Britain in December 2009, but no word yet on a U.S. show time.)

Do you prefer to write books or screenplays?

FB: Screenplays are a lot easier to write but the politics – the meetings, the money etc. – of filmmaking is horrendous. It’s much easier to publish a book than to write a film – partly because even a small film costs millions.

Who would you recommend read your books?

FB: Anyone and everyone! I think because the books are narrated by children, adults read them differently. I think adults find them funnier and children find them more moving.

What are some of your favorite books to read?

FB: Blimey. so many. I love E. Nesbit’s books—Phoenix and the Carpet, Five Children and It, Railway Children and The Treasure Seekers. She’s my hero really. But I’m reading War and Peace just now and it’s astonishing how good it is. I had no idea.

What’s the best part of being an author?

FB: Being able to work in bed. And also reading to children in schools.

What’s your next project?

FB: I’m working on the films of Framed and of Terry Pratchett’s Truckers. And I’m finishing my next book (Cosmic note: released in July 2008)

Is there anything else you’d like to say to readers in mother daughter book clubs?

FB: Keep it up. I think sharing books with someone can be really special. I’ve got a son who is living in rural Peru at the moment on a project for poor people. And I’ve decided to read all the books that he is reading – he took great big fat books with him because he has no phone, no TV, no radio and is living with a family. So once a week we email each other about where we’re up to. It’s hard to keep up with him but I’m loving trying.  That’s why I’m reading War and Peace. I don’t think we’ll ever forget doing that together.

My daughter, Madeleine, and I decided to try something different the last time we picked a book for her mother daughter book club. We chose to read Millions by Frank Cottrell Boyce, which is also available to watch as a movie.

The girls are all in high school, and it’s sometimes a challenge for them to read books for pleasure, because they have so much reading homework for their classes. We thought they would look forward to watching a movie together and if one or two girls hadn’t found time to read the book they could still participate in the conversation.

We moved our meeting night to Sunday evening so we could gather earlier than usual and spend more time together. After dinner we settled in to have dessert and watch the movie, and when it was over we were able to talk about ways the book and the movie were different. We talked about changes we liked or disliked, and how the pictures of the characters we formed in our minds while reading lived up to the characters on screen.

If you’re not familiar with the story, Millions is about a boy named Damian who believes a bag of money that drops from the sky onto his playhouse came from God. He wants to give it to the poor, but his brother Anthony wants to invest it in real estate. The boys’ mother has recently died, and they and their father are adjusting to life without her. Millions blends humor, mystery, adventure and heart-warming moments all into one beautiful little book. And the movie is a wonderful adaption, probably in no small part because Boyce was the author of both.

Our blended book/movie talk was a nice break from our regular routine, and Millions was a good choice for both reading and watching. School Library Journal recommends it for 4th—8th grade, but I think it’s a story that anyone can love.