If one is blissfully unaware of the many opportunitites,
advantages, luxuries and conveniences that one has been blessed with simply by
living in these United
States of America . . . and one wishes to
remain in that state of blissful ignorance . . . please do not read this
book. Tim Crothers pulls no punches, and
he makes no apologies, as he recounts the way in which that elusive (to some,
like this reviewer!) game of chess has transformed the life of one young girl
from the slums of Kampala , Uganda
Phiona Mutesi sleeps in a decrepit shack with her mother and
three siblings and struggles to find a single meal each day. Phiona has been
out of school most of her life because her mother cannot afford it, so she is
only now learning to read and write.
Phiona Mutesi is also one of the best chess players in the world.
Phiona’s dream is to one day become a Grandmaster, the most
elite title in chess. But to reach that
goal, she must grapple with everyday life in one of the world’s most unstable
countries, a place where girls are taught to be mothers, not dreamers, and the
threats of AIDS, kidnapping, and starvation loom over the people of Katwe.
Taking the nuances of chess as an outline, Tim Crothers
chronicles the life of Phiona Mutesi from a 9-year old girl who could only see
to the next sunrise to a 15-year old tournament champion in the Chess Olympiad,
the world’s most prestigious team chess event.
You’ll learn lessons from Phiona herself as she shares how chess
transformed not only her daily existence, but her entire philosophy of who she
is, who she wants to be, and how she has the ability within her to get there.
This book is not for the squeamish, or the faint of
heart. A word to the wise is sufficient.
The Queen of Katwe
Tim Crothers
978-1-4516-5781-4
Non-fiction \ biography
Scribner
224 pages
$26.00 U.S.
5 stars
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