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booknrrd's review
4.0
A 2016-2017 Missouri Truman Readers Award nominee (grades 6-8).
3.5 stars rounded up.
Daniel Pratzer is shocked when a couple of the most popular seniors at his high school approach him and ask if he and his dad would play in a chess tournament with them that weekend. As far as he knows his dad doesn't even know how to play chess. Nope. His dad used to be a chess grandmaster, and he reluctantly agrees to enter the tournament with Daniel.
This was much better than I thought it would be despite a fair amount of chess speak. It is a nice family story with a healthy dose of competitive action thrown in.
3.5 stars rounded up.
Daniel Pratzer is shocked when a couple of the most popular seniors at his high school approach him and ask if he and his dad would play in a chess tournament with them that weekend. As far as he knows his dad doesn't even know how to play chess. Nope. His dad used to be a chess grandmaster, and he reluctantly agrees to enter the tournament with Daniel.
This was much better than I thought it would be despite a fair amount of chess speak. It is a nice family story with a healthy dose of competitive action thrown in.
bethc723's review
4.0
Full of idiots and a chess tournament with intensity dialled up to max at ALL TIMES.
tashrow's review
5.0
Daniel is a freshman in the chess club of an elite private school. He knows he’s one of the poorest kids attending the school, one of the least popular, and also one of the worst chess players. So he’s surprised with two popular and wealthy seniors approach him to invite Daniel and his father to a father son chess tournament in New York City. He’s even more shocked to find out that his own accountant father who doesn’t seem to be good at anything in particular, used to to be a chess grandmaster thirty years ago. Daniel convinces his father to participate and quickly realizes that his father has a profound gift for chess. But as the tournament continues, the stress gets more difficult to deal with and Daniel realizes that his father quitting chess may have been a matter of life and death.
Klass, who was a competitive chess champion himself, writes a book about chess that never lags with too much chess information and is filled with real drama. Klass wisely mixes drama on the board with drama in real life, showing the complexity of competition on a variety of scales. I also appreciate that Klass slowly broke down the shell of the wealthy fathers and sons, showing them for whom they truly were. Happily, he did not end up with stereotypes in any way, rather he showed them all as individuals with various flaws.
Daniel is a great character. He doesn’t realize his own potential and is actually beyond humble. He has a great sense of humor as well, something that works well as he deals with his father. And what a paternal character that is! His father is an amazing mix of wounded chess veteran, incredible brain, and distant man. But that changes, grows, reverts and organically continues throughout the book.
A riveting book about chess, competition and father son relationships, get this book into the hands of chess playing middle schoolers, but even more it may inspire some kids to give the game a try. Appropriate for ages 12-14.
Klass, who was a competitive chess champion himself, writes a book about chess that never lags with too much chess information and is filled with real drama. Klass wisely mixes drama on the board with drama in real life, showing the complexity of competition on a variety of scales. I also appreciate that Klass slowly broke down the shell of the wealthy fathers and sons, showing them for whom they truly were. Happily, he did not end up with stereotypes in any way, rather he showed them all as individuals with various flaws.
Daniel is a great character. He doesn’t realize his own potential and is actually beyond humble. He has a great sense of humor as well, something that works well as he deals with his father. And what a paternal character that is! His father is an amazing mix of wounded chess veteran, incredible brain, and distant man. But that changes, grows, reverts and organically continues throughout the book.
A riveting book about chess, competition and father son relationships, get this book into the hands of chess playing middle schoolers, but even more it may inspire some kids to give the game a try. Appropriate for ages 12-14.
silver_valkyrie_reads's review
3.0
This is a story about that moment in growing up when you realize that your parents are real people who have real life stories from before you were around, and also about the choices you make that affect your life's direction. It was a solid story that tugged on my emotions a few times, and I liked the setting of the chess tournament, but it didn't suck me in enough to be a new favorite.
As far as content, nothing bad happens 'on screen' but there are themes of suicide/mental health, bullying to borderline abusive boyfriends, and there is some flirting between a married person and someone that's not their spousethough it doesn't go anywhere, and another character comments that they're 'just having fun and it doesn't mean anything' .
As far as content, nothing bad happens 'on screen' but there are themes of suicide/mental health, bullying to borderline abusive boyfriends, and there is some flirting between a married person and someone that's not their spouse
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