Alex and the Wednesday Chess Club

Alex and the Wednesday Chess Club

Alex first learned to play chess when he was four years old. He loved it. He loved the pieces, the challenge, and the sweet taste that winning left in his mouth. He loved it until he played a chess game with moldy old Uncle Hooya...and lost. Then Alex decided to give up chess for good. Now in third grade Alex wants to give chess another try. He joins the chess club and discovers that chess is fun again. He plays his friends, he listens to the coach, and he practices at school, at home, and on the computer. Alex is a chess maniac! All of this practice is leading up to the big tournament, where Alex finds himself face-to-face with Little Cousin Hooya. Memories of his earlier defeat return, but now is his chance to finally beat a Hooya. Is Alex up to the challenge? Janet Wong's lyrical text, complemented by Stacey Schuett's bright illustrations, will inspire chess players of all ages to practice, practice, practice -- and to avoid moldy old Uncle Hooya! PreS-Gr. 3. Four-year-old Alex loves chess until his neighbor's uncle, "moldy old" Uncle Hooya, dramatically trounces him. Traumatized, Alex stops playing until elementary school, when an injury on the football field leads him back to the game, and he joins his school chess club. Then, in his first tournament, he faces Uncle Hooya once again--when he plays against the older man's nephew. Wong's rhythmic, colloquial free verse combines the thrill of finding a talent with a child's anxieties, conveying the feelings in an age-appropriate voice: sometimes in a tournament "you do the first thing that pops into your mind, / which is really, really dumb, / but you really, really, really have to pee." Schuett's gouache-and-ink illustrations show a close-up cast of likable, multicultural kids supporting one another and facing off across the board. For young chess enthusiasts, this makes a good companion to David Birch's The King's Chessboard (1988), but all kids working hard to develop a passion will recognize Alex's excitement and his struggle to overcome disappointments. Gillian Engberg Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved Michelle Anderson Executive Director, America's Foundation for Chess Wong takes a game perceived as something only the brainy kids would want to play and brings it to life -- so much so that kids and adults alike will read her book and be left wanting more. More chess, more time to think through a problem, more problems to solve, and definitely more Wong. Put a copy in every classroom! Elena Akhmilovskaya Donaldson Women's Grandmaster, three-time U.S. Women's Chess Champion and two-time Olympic Chess Champion This book will inspire kids and parents to learn and play chess. Janet S. Wong is the author of more than a dozen picture books and poetry collections. Her work includes Night Garden: Poems from the World of Dreams, a New York Times Best Illustrated Book, and Knock on Wood: Poems About Superstitions, both illustrated by Julie Paschkis, as well as Grump, a Charlotte Zolotow Award Highly Commended Book, illustrated by John Wallace. Janet lives with her family in Medina, Washington. Stacey Schuett has illustrated numerous books for children, including America Is... by Louise Borden, Night Lights by Steven Schnur, and Purple Mountain Majesties by Barbara Younger. She lives in Sebastopol, California. Used Book in Good Condition