Rick Kotani's 400 Million Dollar Summer

by Waka T. Brown

Overview

Oregon Book Award–winning author Waka T. Brown hits a home run in this middle grade novel about a baseball-obsessed twelve-year-old who moves to Oregon to help his grandfather—an elusive old man with a shrouded past—but ends up learning unexpected truths about his family and how they mysteriously parallel the Japanese folktale of Urashima Taro.

Rick Kotani is looking forward to spending the entire summer playing baseball. Sure, his team never wins, but he's been practicing a special pitch he knows is going to land him a 400-million-dollar major-league contract . . . someday. That all changes when his mother throws a curveball of her own: Instead of playing ball in California, Rick will be heading to Oregon to help keep an eye on Grandpa Hiroshi while they move him to a retirement home. Trading no-hitters to be a babysitter? Rick is beyond bummed.

But once there, Rick discovers Grandpa is actually pretty cool, and the two bond over a Japanese folktale about a fisherman, Urashima Taro, who trades his life on earth for the riches of an underwater kingdom. And like the fisherman, Rick soon forgets about his team back home when he joins a supercompetitive local league that only cares about being the best—at any cost.

As the team racks up the wins and Grandpa makes his final move, Rick must decide which ending he wants for his story: Will he fall in line with his ruthless teammates and their victory-obsessed coach in his own "underwater kingdom," or will family, true friendship, and integrity lead him back to shore?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780063230811
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	02/18/2025
Pages:	272
Product dimensions:	5.60(w) x 8.30(h) x 1.20(d)
Age Range:	8 - 12 Years

About the Author

Waka T. Brown was the first American born in her family. She is a Stanford graduate with a master’s degree in secondary education. She’s currently an instructor at the Stanford Program on International and Cross-Cultural Education (SPICE), authoring curriculum on several international topics and winning the Association for Asian Studies’ national Franklin R. Buchanan Prize. She’s also been awarded the United States–Japan Foundation and EngageAsia’s national 2019 Elgin Heinz Outstanding Teacher Award for her groundbreaking endeavors in teaching about US-Japan relations to high school students in Japan and promoting cultural exchange awareness. She lives with her family in Portland, Oregon.

Editorial Reviews

"Brown beautifully weaves together multiple storylines. A thought-provoking, multilayered read that will leave a lasting impression." — Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

"Brown uses the mystical foundation of a dreamlike folktale as the backdrop upon which unpleasant realities surrounding Rick’s grandfather’s cognitive decline and generational trauma unfurl."  — Publishers Weekly

“Brown seamlessly weaves lessons about the pitfalls of competition and how we each have the power to define ourselves and to write our own endings. A dash of magical realism paves the way for a touching, albeit bittersweet, ending. Poignant, layered, and thoroughly engaging.”

— Maya Prasad, author of Sejal Sinha Battles Superstorms

From the Publisher

★ 2024-11-09
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’sDream, 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.(Fiction. 8-12)

Kirkus Reviews