Age: 15
Title: Grandmaster
Author: David Klass
Publisher: Farrar Straus Giroux
Pub Date: text
Galley: Yes
Top 25: No
Convince us to read the book: This book shows all the adventure of ordinary life; he shows a boy and his father competing in a tournament, which is a simple enough premise, but the author managed to keep my attention with subtle changes in the plot. Even though it was set in everyday life with no extraordinary adventure, the simple problems that a normal person would face ended up being captivating. The characters were very believable, all of Daniel's thoughts and emotions were well expressed, and the supporting characters developed well over the course of the book.
Memorable or Forgettable: I really connected with this book because I myself am a chess player, and it brings up old memories of tournaments I played in. I related to the character very well, and the whole story was well developed. An extra perk were all the chess openings and gambits and defenses that the author mentioned, which I will be looking up in the future.
Cover: The cover caught my eye, it had a very intriguing design, and the words, "Winning the game can mean losing everything" was a great attention grabber. I don't think that sentence reflects the contents very well, but the cover is great because the boy literally reflects in the chess piece.
Age Range: Under 12 through 17
Quality: 4Q Better than most
Popularity: 4P Broad general teen appeal
Additional Comments I myself loved it because I can relate really well, as a chess player. However I don't know how much other teens will relate.
tags: realistic fiction / competitive chess / ya lit
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