Chess Rumble

Chess Rumble provides a gripping and moving account of an eleven-year old boy's struggles with living in poverty in a single-parent household after the death of his sister. Plagued by feelings of rage and provoked by his younger brothers' antics and the taunts of his classmate, Marcus uses his fists as a coping device. Of course fighting makes his problems worse to the point where he risks getting kicked out of school and having to leave home. His bleak situation changes for the better when the school principal introduces Marcus to a chess master who has a program at the school that encourages troubled youth to fight their battles on the chessboard. Marcus does not take to the chess master or the program right away, but a particularly nasty fight and a visit to his sister's gravesite convince him to give the chess master another chance. Based on real inner-city enrichment programs that teach kids how to play chess, this book shows how a unique social program can help children to develop new skills, meet new people, and begin to overcome disadvantaged economic circumstances. This fast-paced and intriguing book is bound to hold the attention of most young readers as they get a good dose of important lessons in economics, sociology, and social policy.

A superb view of inner turmoil, this book speaks through street dialect a troubled boy's grief. Admirably illustrated and paced, the work deserves a space in libraries and in the hands of kids who are better at making fists than making amends.

G. Neri's CHESS RUMBLE is appealing to reluctant readers, especially boys, on a number of levels. Neri nails the voice of a boy growing up in the inner city in a way that's reminiscent of Walter Dean Myers. Neri's main character, Marcus, is a young man dealing with family troubles and fights at school, until he meets a powerful mentor and learns to fight his battles on a chessboard instead. This novella in verse is full of language that's vivid and accessible, and Jesse Joshua Watson's illustrations in shades of black, brown, and gray help to set the mood. This one has serious kid-appeal -- not just for the kids who already love to read but for those who don't often find books on the library shelves that seem to be written for them. This one is.

CR is a deft blend of text and illustration. Marcus is a big boy at whom life has thrown some mean punches. Beyond anyone's help, he takes his anger and frustration to the limit - the proverbial brick wall beyond which his survival lies in his own two hands. CM is the mentor who has walked in Marcus' shoes and found the King's game in time to be saved. But Marcus needs to get his big hands around chess pawns instead of an adversary's throat (as he'd like, his nemesis Latrell's) and to make game moves - with his own will - to prove he's redeemable. Masterfully expressed gamesmanship for life. Reluctant male readers and chess-player wannabes from 8 years will enjoy this.

Neri knows the street, what it's like to have a daddy "we ain't even seen in six month," a mother who's always "watchin' me outta the corner a her eye, just waitin' for me to mess up," two annoying younger brothers, a dead sister, and problems at school, all issues 11-year-old Marcus faces and wants to settle with a fist. The book jacket says Neri's a filmmaker and I believe it--his free verse shows Marcus' attitude, his anger, his pain with a "Pow" and a "Bam!" But then Marcus meets CM, playing chess in a park. CM challenges Marcus and ultimately shows him a different way to settle a dispute, using his head, at a table, in a CHESS MATCH! Interesting idea, incredible story. Cuts you to the core and builds you back again. Highly recommend, especially for kids who aren't particularly fond of reading.