Klass,
David. Grandmaster. Macmillan/Farrar
Strauss 2014 226p $16.99 ISBN 978-0-374-32771-2 ms/hs Sports
fiction E-BN
When you think of chess, it does not
bring to mind the intensity, physicality and ferocity that ice hockey and
football epitomize. But this novel makes
chess into a blood sport and so exciting that even the person who doesn’t
understand chess moves will become engrossed and be unable to put the book
down. Daniel is a novice
when it comes to chess and is called Patzer-face, a play on his last name, Pratzer, and a term that
means “pushover” in chess. When the seniors on
the Loon Lake Academy chess team invite Daniel to a chess tournament in New
York City, he is skeptical, especially when they tell him it is a father/son tournament and
only three students can bring their fathers along. Family secrets unravel,
revealing that Daniel’s father was a teenage
Grandmaster but won’t speak of it. Bullies are found among the males of all ages, and
father/son relationships are not always smooth in this novel of chess moves
that mirror life moves. As the Loon
Lake Academy Mind Cripplers let a mother/daughter team enter the Mindcrusher
realm for some late night karaoke, an old rivalry from years ago threatens to crush Daniel’s father. Intricately
entwined are plenty of fast-paced action, the tantalizing
revelation of the Grandmaster’s last tournament from which he left as a broken person, the
building of self-confidence, a budding romance, and better understanding between fathers and sons.
Summary: Daniel, a beginner at chess, is invited to a father/son chess
tournament. Unexpected family
secrets surface as Daniel learns of his father’s chess prowess. The intensity of the
tournament, bonding, first love, and fulfilling dreams make an exciting read.
Gr. 6+
Chess-Fiction,
Fathers and sons-Fiction --Lois
McNicol
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