Chess Rumble by G. Neri, Jesse Joshua Watson (Illustrator)

From the Publisher

A story in free verse about a troubled boy who learns to use his mind instead of his fists through the guidance of an unconventional mentor and the game of chess.

Children's Literature

Marcus lives in an inner city neighborhood where battles are fought every day--on street corners, in the park, at school. His life had been tolerable when his sister was alive and his dad was at home, but his sister died and his grieving dad just up and left. Now Marcus is living with his mom and his younger twin brothers and nothing is working out for him. He is close to being expelled when the school nurse introduces him to CM, a chess master. CM challenges Marcus to a game, but Marcus upsets the board, sending the pieces flying, and leaves, reinforcing his self-image as a loser. His temper explodes when his mom tries to talk to him. Then his dad tells him in a telephone call that he has to be the man of the house. It is just too much for Marcus to deal with. Then one day he sees CM playing chess at the edge of the neighborhood basketball court with some guys his age. This time Marcus agrees to play and he becomes hooked on bettering his game. He learns that three moves is all it takes to change the outcome. Lessons Marcus learns while playing chess spill over into other areas of his life and he accepts CM as his mentor. The story is told in street language with a concise format that verges on being poetic. Black-and-white illustrations contribute to the intensity of Marcus’s challenges. A tribute to the value of chess playing for middle grade students. Reviewer: Phyllis Kennemer, Ph.D.

School Library Journal

Gr 5-8

"In my 'hood, battles is fought every day," quips Marcus, an angry middle schooler on the brink of big trouble. His words, rife with frustration, tumble across page after page in free-flowing verse as he paints a picture of his quickly fading innocence. In the short time since his sister's death, memories of eating ice cream and giggling have been replaced by the bleak reality of a persistent bully, fist fights, and an absent dad. After begrudgingly meeting CM, Chess Master, the school's "bad dude" chess club adviser, an extended "battle" metaphor unfolds, concluding as Marcus takes responsibility for his own actions and moves his fighting off the street and onto the chessboard. While the plot undeniably follows a certain predictability, Chess Rumble works, and works well. Neri expertly captures Marcus's voice and delicately teases out his alternating vulnerability and rage. The cadence and emotion of the verse are masterfully echoed through Watson's expressive acrylic illustrations. Blacks, whites, and grays echo the concrete world of Marcus's urban home and, even more so, his despairing mood. Scattered chess pieces evoke the crescendo of the boy's temper. The closing scene tenderly catches tough-guy Marcus in a smile as he pounds fists with CM before sitting down to do battle, a stark contrast to his opening image, one dominated entirely by his fist. This book will become a standby pick for reluctant readers, who will be pulled in before they know it by the story's quick pace and the authenticity of Marcus's voice and experience.-Jill Heritage Maza, Greenwich High School, CT

Kirkus Reviews

"Battles is fought every day" in 11-year-old Marcus's 'hood. Not only has his father abandoned the family, but his sister has recently died, leaving him frustrated, angry and ready to fight-even with his worried, red-eyed mother and his younger twin brothers. Just as his volatility starts to get him into real trouble, Marcus meets a Yoda-like chess master and ex-con in the school library who challenges him to a game of chess. At first, Marcus's "opening move" is to hurl the chessboard groundward, but in time, he learns to master the game-and his temper. Marcus tells his story in street slang, in a conversational first-person voice. (While the narrative is presented as free verse, the lines break more randomly than poetically.) The acrylic black-and-white illustrations are particularly effective at capturing natural expressions and the concrete-gray inner-cityscape, though the abundant chess imagery that surfaces in unlikely places feels overdone. There's plenty of powerful emotion here, but the heavy dose of life lessons leaves the overall effort a few moves short of a checkmate. (Fiction/poetry. 9-12)

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