A review by saidtheraina
Perpetual Check by Rich Wallace

3.0

I really enjoyed following the drama of this chess tournament. Getting to know the players, imagining the games. But I think if kids didn't know the basic rules of chess, they would quickly get lost. Wallace usually writes sports books, and it does show - he does a good job of making it exciting, but again, there isn't a primer in here about how to actually play the game. I liked the realistic interplay between the brothers and the relatively unusual villain. One thing that bugged me (at least at first, before I got wrapped up in the story) - the author switches tenses all the time. "Bobby was a great man... Bobby says." Like I said, I either got used to it, or he stopped (which, I suppose wouldn't be a good thing). Anyway, enjoyable, but I'm not sure I could pull off a booktalk. I'll see what's out there, but really - a chess tournament? To jr. highers? It feels like a J (just over 100 pages), but actually has some language and other thematic material that makes it a YA.