RICK KOTANI'S 400 MILLION DOLLAR SUMMER

What could be worth more than $400 million dollars?

Twelve-year-old Rick Kotani is a baseball superfan who’s shocked when his favorite baseball player, David Martinez, turns down a huge contract. Japanese American Rick dreams of being a millionaire pro ball player someday, and he’s excited for an epic summer of baseball with his teammates. Unfortunately, his plans are derailed when his mom (whom some readers will recognize as the protagonist of 2022’s Dream, Annie, Dream) whisks him away from Los Angeles to the Oregon seaside to check on his grandfather Hiroshi, whom he hasn’t seen in eight years. But things don’t turn out as badly as he expected when the two discover they have a mutual affinity. Grandpa shares with Rick a compelling Japanese folk tale about a fisherman named Urashima Taro, a turtle, and the untold treasures of an underwater kingdom. Rick even gets a chance to play ball with a local team and makes new friends. But just as he’s getting swept up in the small-town team’s toxic culture of winning at any cost, he starts to notice uncanny similarities between the tale of Urashima Taro and his own family’s story. Could there be more to life than fame and fortune? Brown beautifully weaves together multiple storylines as the characters learn to find meaning, value, and purpose even when their dreams fail to unfold in the ways they hoped. Ambiguous moments leave room for deeper contemplation and discussion.

A thought-provoking, multilayered read that will leave a lasting impression.