Nine-year-old Steven has never seen money with as many zeroes as are on the bill his elderly neighbor Mr. Chickee gave him. And he’s never seen a picture of a black man on currency before, let alone one who looks quite so funky. Steven’s dad, a music purist and avid record collector, identifies the man on the money as the Godfather of Soul—James Brown. A hilarious, over-the-top novel follows Steven’s determined and highly innovative efforts to find out the truth about this quadrillion-dollar bill (U.S. mint—the real deal) from the Treasury Agent determined to cover it—and the money’s very existence—up. Christopher Paul Curtis’s story is brilliantly grounded in how a nine-year-old believes—or wishes—the world really works. So adults do behave like children sometimes, a dog can be a hero, and aspiring detective Steven’s various inventions, like the Snoopeze 2000 listening device, really do work. (Ages 8–11)