This is the first book review I have ever written for a book that I did not originally have any intention of reading. In fact, I knew nothing of its existence until just a couple of days before it was sent my way by mail. Allow me to explain.
A few months back, one of my dear followers on Facebook told me about a great opportunity to share my story at a conference entitled “Living on the Edge” which was sponsored by JALT Kyoto. I jumped at the opportunity and told everyone in attendance the story of how I became “Mr. H-TEN.”
One of the attendees at my session was Suzanne Kamata, the author of this book. She has lived in Tokushima prefecture (Naruto City) for a number of years, is married to a former (?) baseball coach and her son played baseball throughout his youth. So what better topic for a kids’ book than… baseball in Japan, with characters who are not run-of-the-mill, born-and-bred Japanese children? (Not that they wouldn’t make for interesting characters, mind you.)
Let me introduce the premise of the book and why I liked it so much. Sidenote: It is designed for children aged 9-13. So it was not meant for this ojisan. Still, Satoshi Matsumoto, 13, is the main character, and was definitely a relatable and fun character to root for. He spent part of his youth in America, though both his parents are Japanese. In other words, his English is miles ahead of that of his classmates’, and his worldview is also significantly different. On top of that, his younger sister Momoko is disabled and definitely stands out of the crowd because of her wheelchair and inability to communicate verbally. His grandfather is slowly becoming senile and requires extra attention and concern. Ojichan also happens to be the founder of the junior high school where Satoshi goes. Finally, there is Satoshi’s “friend” Misa, whose mother is American. Minor characters include Satoshi’s parents and classmates, as well as his English teacher, Mr. Tanaka, and the school’s Assistant Language Teacher, Jerry, who is from America.
What did I like about this book? Pretty much everything. As I said earlier, characters are easy to sympathize with. They have real emotions and problems, and those are well-expressed for the target audience to understand. The book takes place in Japan, in a Japanese junior high school, and baseball is one of the focal points of the plot. These are all highly relatable to me as someone who was once an ALT in a rural Japanese setting. I also like that not everything about the plot is predictable. There are enough twists and every character has shortcomings, to the point where the reader will not likely cheer against any one individual. I also applaud the author for giving the characters various backgrounds that allow for parents to discuss the book a little more deeply with their kids.
What did I not like about this book? There was very little, if anything. A few errors in accuracy (a team hit a 3-run home run but won the game 1-0) stood out, but they were not huge stumbling blocks. Also, it was uncertain whether or not the book was intended to be 100% historically and culturally accurate. It is implied that these boys will have a shot at Koshien, but since they are in junior high, that cannot happen in the real world. Also, it is mentioned that no team from Okinawa has ever won the summer Koshien tournament, but this is not true, since Konan High School (Naha, Okinawa) won both the spring and summer tourneys in 2010. (The book was released in 2020, and was presumably also set in that year, or close to it.) Again, very small details that can easily be overlooked in the grand scheme of things.
Now that I have been introduced to Ms. Kamata’s work, and have been told that she is releasing another baseball book later this year that is aimed at more mature readers, I am on board with what she is doing. Great job, and I cannot wait to read this to my kids in a year or two when they can grasp some of its content a little more deeply!