Who wants to be a millionaire?
Sandy McKay

Longacre, 2004
214pp., pbk., $14.95
1877135976

This book, part thriller, part comedy and part drama is called “Who Wants To Be a Millionaire” by Sandy McKay. Longacre Press published it in 2004. It is about a girl named Hannah Guest and her Kiwi family. They win six million dollars by buying lottery tickets. They think life is great but everyone turns on them. Someone kidnaps Gran but they rescue her.

I’m hooked from the very beginning, as the plot is quite interesting. I can see, touch, hear and smell the setting making it feel very real. The beginning is a bit slow but the paces quickens. Many jokes are made, kidnapping takes place and friendships are broken and repaired.

The language is quite appropriate for the audience but it wasn’t descriptive. It didn’t describe the characters well enough so that I could see them. The characters are credible but I can’t see them in my head. I know their personalties well. They make mistakes like real humans. They are so real that I can hear them talking and it makes me feel like an intruder.

Its purpose isn’t just to entertain. It tells the reader that being a millionaire isn’t so good. It doesn’t tell you at first but it comes clearer at the end.

This is a great book and I’d like to see many other people read it. I couldn’t put it down at all. I’d recommend it to people my age.

Irene , Ermington, NSW