If you combine a Stand by Me- type story and an eye-popping surprise straight from today’s headlines, you get a concept of A Day in God’s Country. It is a one-of-a kind novel that touches all of us and comes from the author's experience working intimately with restaurant staff, serving on civic boards, and living in a bustling surf town. Kotarides exposes injustice, arrogance, and decadence in a permissive, soulless culture. In a shocking climax, A Day in God’s Country portrays the absolute intolerance in today’s world. And it’s all wrapped in a heroic American surf tale.

A Day in God’s Country begins in a sleepy East Coast surf town, where calm waters, rolling dunes, and deluxe hotels belie the personal struggles of residents and visitors. Social ills, family discord, religious misunderstanding, greed, and war suffuse the story, touching each character differently. Surfing is the common bond. It all begins with the dream of a late-blooming high school boy named Francis, a dream any of us might have—if we liked to surf storm-driven waves and loved a girl named Summer.

Why is the A Day in God's Country relevant? It is a groundbreaking look into our homes in a brutally honest, nightmarish tale of our times. Employing both pathos and humor, Kotarides conveys the pain and precariousness of adolescence through the adventures of three surfers. Most poignantly, the relevance of A Day in God’s Country is its gutsy portrayal of contemporary teen struggle and, in a shocking climax, the unconditional intolerance in today’s broken world.