Guy Friday- Rick Kotani's 400 Million Dollar Summer

Brown, Waka. Rick Kotani's 400 Million Dollar Summer
February 18, 2025 by Quill Tree Books
E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

While Rick isn't going to get a $400 million dollar contract like one of his favorite players just turned down, he does enjoy playing baseball. He's all set for his summer when his mother, an often out-of-work actress, in their new apartment, getting used to the fact that his parents are separated. When his mother gets a call from her father's neighbor that he needs some help, Rick and Annie are soon traveling 15 hours from Los Angeles to the Oregon coast to be with Grandpa Hiroshi. While things aren't horrible, the house needs a lot of work, and it's apparent that being alone is putting the grandfather in danger. Rick hasn't seen his grandfather for a number of years, and enjoys spending time with him, even though his grandfather is determined to "read" him a book in Japanese about Urashima Taro, where the stories seem suspiciously close to the grandfather's life. Since he can't play video games, Rick wanders outside, and comes across some boys who are throwing rocks at wildlife. Ducking out of the way to avoid being noticed, he runs into Toni, whose brother Henry is one of the jerks, along with Pete, Joey, and Michael. Toni invites him to play wiffle ball with her, and she tells him that throwing his curveball is a bad idea because it could mess up his arm. The boys invite Rick to come play with their baseball team, since one of their players, Rich Garcia, is off at a fancy baseball camp. Even though Toni is a great player, she's not on the team, but umpires instead. Rick has taken one of the turtles the boys were bothering back home, and his grandfather seems to enjoy having a pet of sorts. The grandfather is much less thrilled about visiting the Chateau at Sandy Shores, which is a rather rundown senior facility. Pacific Woods Senior Living, however, reminds him of the college where he taught. The mother pushes the cleaning out and repairing of the house into high gear, planning on putting it on the market August 1. Meanwhile, Rick is playing with the Warriors and their unpleasant Coach Putnam, who is letting Rick play even though the roster has already been submitted, just pretending he is Rich. Through the grandfather's Urashima Taro stories, Rick finds out some family secrets that explain why his mother is not close to his grandfather, and some amends are made. When the Warriors go to the state championship, the coach has Rick pitch way too much, and he injures his arm. Toni is the only one to check on him. When the grandfather sells his house to a family of teachers for below the asking price, he doesn't have the money to go to Pacific Woods, but makes his peace with the Chateau. Back home in Los Angeles, Rick gets a note from Toni telling him that he can change his game... and includes a bunch of supplies he can use to umpire. 

Strengths: Since I always secretly wanted to spend the entire summer on my grandmother's dairy farm, cleaning out the barns with my cousins, I am a sucker for any book where the main character gets to stay with a grandparent. Rick's grandfather is still lucid, reasonably amenable to going into assisted living, and willing to engage with Rick. The family secrets aren't dark, but show how sometimes families struggle with difficult issues and handle them in ways that aren't ideal. Rick does get to play baseball, and like many middle school students, thinks that if he just plays well enough, he too can someday get a 400 millions dollar contract. I love that Toni shows him that there are other ways to approach that sort of dream. There's a great sense of place with this one as well, and the vicarious fourth of July celebration was very fun! 
Weaknesses: I was uncomfortable with Coach Putnam, especially when he broke the rules by playing Rick. The Warriors should have been disqualified and not won the championship. His bad coaching was never addressed, but there were a lot of other things going on. Toni was treated horribly by her family, and that wasn't addressed, either. 
What I really think: This is a great choice for readers who enjoy books about visiting grandparents for the summer (McDunn's Caterpillar Summer, Greenburg's Battle of Junk Mountain, St. Antoine's Three Bird Summer, Matson's Firefly Summer, Sternberg's Summer of Stolen Secrets), or who just want to go back to summer vacation and play baseball!