A ton of money, a grandfather, a bucket list, and oodles of fun! This one was just a delight!

In this book we meet a boy named Frank and he has just inherited not just 462k but also a grandpa he didn’t know he had! And so starts a hilarious adventure featuring a bucket list, a mission to make grandpa happy, and more! There are hot balloon flights with gusts of wind and signs collapsing, there is a swim-session with dolphins.. but it may not be what you think it is, and there is more. Along with the bucket list we see how Frank and his grandpa are getting closer and, despite what grandpa says, having fun doing things together with the money left behind by Frank’s stepgrandmother. I just loved how Frank first started with things he wanted to do, but quickly went with things that he thought his grandpa would also enjoy! I also loved how each bucket list item brought something unexpected along. It made me laugh oh so many times!

Oh, and I loved that Frank didn’t just go for helping his grandpa (and connecting with him), he also did things for the retirement home. Much to the enjoyment and happiness of the elderly there!

Oh, and another oh, because while we see Frank cares a lot about the reward he may get when he makes his grandpa happy/takes good care of him, eventually you see him not think about it that often and more think of fun things to do with his grandfather.

I also loved meeting other people in the lives of these characters. Like the couple who have a dog rescue/grooming/hairdresser for humans job. Or the balloon guy. Or the peeps living in the retirement home. Sometimes it is just a small glimpse, but that was enough for me to make me happy!

It was also really sweet to see Frank and his grandpa Frank connect and get closer. Especially later when things happen that made Frank junior unhappy, grandpa Frank is there for him.

I was saddened because we can see that grandpa Frank has Alzheimer/dementia, at least starting to. There are times that he just forgets where he is, what he is doing, who that boy is that is with him, that he confuses his grandson with his son. It just made me sad, especially since Frank finally has found his grandfather and is really bonding/connecting.

There is just one reason why I didn’t rate it 5 stars, and that was the parents. They were horrible. Terrible. And I just didn’t like them. Dad was constantly doing stupid crap which had him moving his family around a lot to get away from bad things. Dad didn’t seem to understand that maybe he should just find an honest job. Mom should just choose for once, I mean, for real, if my hubby was like this all the time? I would just say bye eventually. And maybe both of them should just care a bit more about their kid. I mean we find out later that it has been a long time since he has had affection/a real hug. But the biggest one? That they couldn’t leave their son alone when he had money and how they kept trying to find a way to get the money away from him. WTF. This is your kid’s money, given by a step-grandmother he didn’t know, to take care of someone you haven’t seen in years, aka grandpa. BAH.

The ending was fun, but also felt a bit contrived with how over the top it felt, like the whole book was a bit over the top, but this was just a level more. I was still happy with it because it did solve problems and had people finally doing that big talk that they should have done for a while. And then the last pages made me smile, so it wasn’t all that bad.

The illustrations by David O’Connell were, as expected, very fun and made the story even more bonkers at times!

All in all, I had fun with this one! Happy I bought it and happy I finally could read it in my vacation (August, whoo). I would recommend it.