However, these back stories are partly what help to enrich Phiona’s story. This gives the book a choppy feel in parts, particularly if readers read it slowly over a period of time. He tells the back stories of many who end up participating in the chess ministry as well as Phiona’s mother. Crothers is a former reporter for Sports Illustrated, and his objective reporting style is a welcome filter through which to experience the unspeakable tragedies of Ugandan slum life. And chess, along with the gospel, transforms Phiona’s life. Soon, Phiona is following her brother, lured by the promise of a free bowl of porridge. When Robert Katende, a sports missionary (but from a similar environment as Phiona) starts to teach chess to the Katwe kids who don’t want to play soccer, Phiona’s brother begins to go. In this environment, young Phiona Mutesi cuts her teeth. Women are often without husbands, struggling to get enough food for their children and to make rent. Girls end up with older men who will give them money (which they, in turn, can give their families). They beg for food or work from dawn to dusk selling maize and whatever else they can find. People who live there live in huts, shacks, or in the open air. Katwe is a slum on the outskirts of Kampala, Uganda. To be a girl is to be an underdog in Katwe. To be from Katwe is to be an underdog in Uganda. To be Ugandan is to be an underdog in Africa. To be African is to be an underdog in the world. You have to walk out with them side by side. I’ve learned that you can’t pull someone out of Katwe. Recommended For: Teens, ages 14 and up, particularly as part of a small discussion group (family or school or youth group).Reading Level: Young adults, ages 15-18 and up.The Queen of Katwe: One Girl’s Triumphant Path to Becoming a Chess Champion by Tim Crothers. Scribner, 2016.

The Queen of Katwe by Tim Crothers