Key CharactersDamian Damian Cunningham is the narrator. He is a bright, moral, and compassionate child who misses his mother following her

death. He and his family have moved into a new house in a new neighbourhood to start over. To help cope with his mother’s death, Damian has turned to faith in God and an immense interest in saints. He is able to find a patron saint for nearly every situation, except for things like lying. Damian decides he wants to live a more saintly life.

Anthony Anthony is Damian’s elder brother. He often tries to stick up for Damien and encourages him to blend in so that the other children don’t make fun of him. Anthony wants to be an estate agent and is obsessed with house prices. He is more comfortable with spending the money.

Dad (Ronald) Ronald is a single father who does not always notice the things his sons are up to. He is a member of a pub quiz team and has good general knowledge.

Mum Mum has died. She worked on a make-up counter and apparently had very nice skin.

Dorothy Dorothy collects money for charity and is in love with Anthony and Damian’s dad. She is a keen cook.

Glass eye man He is a poor man who is also a train robber and very threatening.

Eddie Eddie is the local community police officer.

Tricia A girl in Damian’s class. Freckle Neck His real name is Barry. He is a bit of a bully.

Mr Quinn Damian’s teacher Terry Terry is the family’s neighbour.

Synopsis: Brothers Damian and Anthony didn't mean to get caught up in a botched train robbery. But what would you do if a massive bag of cash dropped from the sky and you had only a few days to spend it before it became worthless? Buy a million pizzas? End world poverty? Not such an easy decision, is it? The boys soon find out that being rich is a mug's game. Not only is the clock ticking, the bank robbers want their money back…

“He actually said thank you three times. If that doesn’t make me excellent, I don’t know what does. I was also an artistic inspiration, as nearly all the boys painted pictures of the collateral damage at the execution of St Catherine. There were a lot of fatal flying splinters and milk spurting out of necks. Jake painted Wayne Rooney, but he was the only one.”

Damian

Key topics

Patron Saints: A saint is a person who is believed to be especially close to God. Some saints are prophets, or messengers of God. Others are healers, doers of good deeds, or martyrs. A martyr is someone who is killed for belonging to a religion. Sainthood is an official status in some religions. In other religions people become saints simply because many people honour them. In Roman Catholicism a person can be declared a saint after their death. Roman Catholics believe saints have special powers to help people. A canonized saint honoured as special protector of a country is known as a patron saint. A patron saint may also be a benefactor of persons in a certain occupation or a guardian of those who bear the saint’s name.

The Euro: The euro is the official currency, or money, of the European Union (EU). About three-fifths of the EU’s countries use the euro. The European Central Bank controls the euro. One euro is divided into 100 cents. All the notes show a map of Europe and the EU flag, as well as examples of European architecture, such as bridges, arches, and windows. On January 1, 2002, 12 EU countries began to use euro notes and coins.

Northern Ireland: the smallest of the four parts of the United Kingdom, a country of western Europe. England, Scotland, and Wales are the other three parts. Northern Ireland is often called Ulster because it includes six of the nine counties that made up the ancient kingdom of Ulster. Its capital is Belfast. Northern Ireland has two main groups of people. About half of the people are descended from Scottish and English settlers who arrived in the 1600s. Most of these people are Protestant. About two-fifths of the people are Irish. They are descended from the ancient Celts. These people are mainly Roman Catholic. Almost everyone speaks English.

Catholicism: Roman Catholicism is the oldest and largest branch of Christianity. There are more than 1 billion Catholics worldwide. The church is led by the pope, who rules it from Vatican City, which is a separate country inside Rome, Italy. Catholics base their beliefs on the Christian Bible. Roman Catholics also believe that Mary, the mother of Jesus, is a very important holy person. Unlike Protestant Christians, Catholics pray to Mary. Catholics also pray to a number of saints. Roman Catholics generally attend a service called Mass on Sunday mornings. Catholics also perform rituals, or special signs of their faith, called sacraments. One sacrament is Communion. During a Mass a priest blesses bread. Catholics believe that the bread then turns into Jesus’ body. At Communion the Catholics eat the bread. Another sacrament is confession, or the telling of one’s sins to a priest.

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“The patron saint of this story is St. Francis of Assisi, because it all sort of started with a robbery and the first saintish thing he ever did was a robbery. He stole some cloth from his father and gave it to the poor.”

“Anthony explained to the man that our mum was dead and he left us to do what he liked.”

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Conjunctions

Subordinating Coordinating

so that afterFor

And

Nor

But

Or

Yet

So

unless although

until as

when because

whenever before

where even if

whereas if

wherever that

while once

however since

Relative clauses using brackets

My grandma (who is eighty-five) is a roller-skating champion.I enjoy visiting my grandma (who is a roller-skating champion.

Relative clauses using dashes

My grandma - who is eighty-five - is a roller-skating champion.

Relative clauses using commas

My grandma, who is eighty-five, is a roller-skating champion.

Apostrophes for omission

can’t # won’t # doesn’t # shan’t # didn’t # could’ve # would’ve

Apostrophes for possession

Kiera’s coat // James’s coatthe lion’s tail // the lions’ tailsthe children’s shoes // the women’s toilets // the men’s toilets

Questions must always end with a question mark.

Would you fetch me that book? Who could carry that back to the house?

Statements usually end in a full stop.

I would like you to fetch me the book. You could carry that back to the house.

Commands begin with an imperative (bossy) verb:

Fetch me the book! Carry that back to the house.

Simple sentences: The werewolf growled.

Compound sentences: The werewolf growled and stalked the oblivious girl.

Complex sentences: The werewolf growled while stalking the oblivious girl. // While stalking the oblivious girl, the werewolf growled.

Johnny reminded

us, “Always begin a new speaker on

a new line!”

“Take care with your

punctuation,” he added.

Punctuating Lists

A colon and some commas:I packed: my swimming costume, some goggles, a towel and some coins.

A colon and some semi-colons:I packed: my favourite swimming costume; my brother’s swimming goggles; a stripy, purple beach towel and some coins for the lockers.

Instead of ‘said’, try: shouted ~ yelled ~ called ~ laughed ~ giggled ~ cried ~ whispered ~ muttered ~ explained ~ exclaimed ~ questioned ~ announced ~

protested ~ argued ~ sighed ~ moaned ~ complained ~ disagreed ~ agreed ~ lied ~ admitted

How to punctuate bullet points:

To make this cake:

• measure the ingredients• add them to the bowl• stir the mixture• pour the mixture into the

tin• place the tin into the oven.• set the timer for 30

minutes.

determiners

Semi-colons separate two independent clauses

A whale is not a fish: it is a warm-blooded mammal.

Colons separate two dependent clauses

Whales are mammals while sharks are fish → whales are mammals; sharks are fish.

Active Voice

Zombies invaded the quiet town of Bromsgrove.

Passive Voice

The quiet town of Bromsgrove was invaded by zombies.

Subjunctive:

For the subjunctive, we remove the final s at the end of the verb, so:• I request that he write to her (instead of he writes to

her)

and in the subjunctive we use the forms I were and they be, so• I wish I were able to fly (instead of I was)• She asked that they be told immediately (instead of

they were told).The subjunctive isn't used in English very often.

Simple tense

I slept // I sleep // I will sleep

Perfect tense

I had slept // I have sleptshe had slept // she has slept

Progressive tense

I was sleeping // I am sleepingshe was sleeping // she is sleeping