First published 2026
Jeon-Gi lives between two worlds. At home, his immigrant parents shower him with attention. Outside, he runs with a pack of kids who rule an abandoned baseball field and broken playground. The summer he turns eleven, simple mischief turns into something much bigger. Events spiral beyond what any child should handle. Jeon-Gi must face what he has done and what it means for his family. The weight of adult knowledge crashes down on a boy who was just playing games yesterday. He will carry this summer with him forever. Chang-rae Lee creates a boy caught between his parents' dreams and the harsh reality of growing up too fast in America.
Genres: literary-fiction, american-fiction, coming-of-age, contemporary, young-adult, family-drama
Vibes: bittersweet, coming-of-age, emotionally-charged, introspective, poignant
Tropes: fish-out-of-water, formative-summer, loss-of-innocence
Setting: America, abandoned-baseball-field, broken-playground
Period: summer, childhood
384 pages · Paperback · Random House Large Print
Content warnings: child-abuse