Book - Framed

Author - Frank Cottrell Boyce
Year - 2005
Genre - Adventure
Pages - 320

This book was recommended to me by Brooke, and from the start was one I was looking forward to reading.  Boyce is a writer whose books I have been recommended several times, and he has become even more famous in the past year for having written a large part of the opening to the London Summer Olympics in 2012.

Framed tells of a boy called Dylan who lives in a town in North Wales.  His quiet life changes when an old mine in the town becomes the place in which incredibly expensive paintings are hidden by London's National Gallery.

The strongest part of this book is the characterisation.  You find as you read it that you fully believe in all of these unusual characters from a little Welsh town.  Dylan himself is a great character, and Frank Cottrell Boyce manages to mix together a strong character with traits of naivity and humour in order to make him an incredibly engaging person to read about.

Many of my friends who have recommended reading Boyce's books only started reading his stuff as adults themselves, and in that regard, despite this being a book aimed at children, I certainly believe that it can go beyond that and be read by anyone of any age.  I know that I certainly intend to give some of his other work a go.

8/10

Review by Mr Freeman

Mr Freeman - 2
Team 7.1 - 4