This was a fantastic audiobook! I recently read [b:Cosmic|1999660|Cosmic|Frank Cottrell Boyce|http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/5194ZnLdSjL._SL75_.jpg|2256869] and loved it, so I thought I should start in on some of Cottrell Boyce's other books. This was, as expected, completely great, and I'm so glad I got the audio version of this because the narrator was amazing.

So the story follows narrator Dylan's family. They own a petrol station in a tiny town somewhere in Wales called Manod. Life in Manod is disrupted when the nearby hollowed-out mountain becomes a storage site for famous works of art.

No plot description can convey how wonderfully silly and clever this book is, so let me just throw out some key words: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, market research, perfect crimes, Vincent Van Gogh, maximum speed 120 MPH. ( )

Framed is a great read, not only because of the unique story line but because the residents of the tiny Welsh community are also unique and well developed as characters. Who, for example, could resist reading about the elderly Sellwood sisters, one of whom can't see and the other who can't drive, as they drive into town for their weekly shopping trip?

This would be great to use with an art class, not only because so many famous works are essentially 'characters' in the book, but because the book highlights the ability of art to transform lives. All of the paintings described in the book are listed at the end, so research into each piece could be included in a unit.

art and small town. good book, funny too. all of his are good. ( )

Frank Cottrell Boyce aims this charming story of family and community life, from the perspective of a 12-year-old boy, at tweens, but it will have adults rolling with laughter. An extremely well-crafted book, with disciplined editing, which I attribute to Cottrell Boyce's first career as a screenwriter. An immensely entertaining read, with mystery, suspense, humor, and a subtle and effective argument in favor of the supreme importance of all people. ( )

Dylan Hughes is the only boy living in Manod, an uneventful Welsh town of drizzling grayness that Dylan thinks is full of Hidden Beauty. His best buddies are two agoraphobic chickens named Michelangelo and Donatello after the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. His family runs the Snowdonia Oasis Auto Marvel garage. When the business falters, his father takes off, and Dylan, Mam, his older sister, Marie, and his aspiring criminal genius younger sister, Minnie, try to make Oasis more profitable so that Dad will return. Flooding in London causes the National Gallery to evacuate its paintings to the safety of Manod's old quarry mine. (An actual evacuation to the Manod slate quarry occurred during World War II.) Lester, the art expert in charge, takes a shine to Dylan as an art connoisseur on hearing the chickens' names. When he agrees to put one masterpiece at a time on view, the villagers' lives are changed. Minnie concocts a hilarious scheme to nick Van Gogh's Sunflowers, replacing it with a paint-by-number affair. All gets sorted out and Dad comes home. ( )