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3.1 AVERAGE
3.1 AVERAGE
I really like Rich Wallace, but this book was disappointing. He normally uses sports and competition as a vehicle to explore identity and personal relationships, and normally does it very well.
Unfortunately, this book will have a limited audience, mainly because it is about two brothers who compete in the world of chess. Not enough kids understand chess and the universality of the chess game, when compared with life. The descriptions of many of the matches lose something because the reader won't catch the significance of the moves.
The biggest mistake Wallace made with this book was to explain too much in backstory. He could have revealed the necessary elements through vignettes, or conversation, or any other device, but he chose to write plain old descriptive paragraphs about earlier times in the boys' lives or character features. I just didn't like that.
I could immediately identify with all of the major characters, however. Zeke has so many qualities that mirror one of my kids, it was scary. I did like the way the dysfunction of the family, squarely on the shoulders of the dad, built up through the novel, so that the tension at the final match was totally connected to it. A flaw in the story was the fact that the dad was not outright ejected at one point by the judges for interferring in the match. He would have been in the real world.
The novel started getting good right at the end. I think Wallace's editor fell down on the job for this one. It could have been a better novel, and ignorance of chess could have been handled in such a way that the target audience would have grown.
Too bad.
Unfortunately, this book will have a limited audience, mainly because it is about two brothers who compete in the world of chess. Not enough kids understand chess and the universality of the chess game, when compared with life. The descriptions of many of the matches lose something because the reader won't catch the significance of the moves.
The biggest mistake Wallace made with this book was to explain too much in backstory. He could have revealed the necessary elements through vignettes, or conversation, or any other device, but he chose to write plain old descriptive paragraphs about earlier times in the boys' lives or character features. I just didn't like that.
I could immediately identify with all of the major characters, however. Zeke has so many qualities that mirror one of my kids, it was scary. I did like the way the dysfunction of the family, squarely on the shoulders of the dad, built up through the novel, so that the tension at the final match was totally connected to it. A flaw in the story was the fact that the dad was not outright ejected at one point by the judges for interferring in the match. He would have been in the real world.
The novel started getting good right at the end. I think Wallace's editor fell down on the job for this one. It could have been a better novel, and ignorance of chess could have been handled in such a way that the target audience would have grown.
Too bad.
I really enjoyed following the drama of this chess tournament. Getting to know the players, imagining the games. But I think if kids didn't know the basic rules of chess, they would quickly get lost. Wallace usually writes sports books, and it does show - he does a good job of making it exciting, but again, there isn't a primer in here about how to actually play the game. I liked the realistic interplay between the brothers and the relatively unusual villain. One thing that bugged me (at least at first, before I got wrapped up in the story) - the author switches tenses all the time. "Bobby was a great man... Bobby says." Like I said, I either got used to it, or he stopped (which, I suppose wouldn't be a good thing). Anyway, enjoyable, but I'm not sure I could pull off a booktalk. I'll see what's out there, but really - a chess tournament? To jr. highers? It feels like a J (just over 100 pages), but actually has some language and other thematic material that makes it a YA.
Summary: Perpetual Check by Rich Wallace is about two brothers, Zeke and Randy Mansfield, and their relationship with not just each other, but also their father. Zeke is a high school senior, a good soccer player, and a natural chess player that started beating his father at the age of six. Zeke can beat almost anybody, except his little brother. Randy on the other hand is a high school freshman, he’s a little pudgy with a haircut paralleling a Cub Scout, he likes to make up words, and he’s a chess whiz that beats his brother nine times out of ten. But this time, tension runs high since both Zeke and Randy have qualified for a major high school regional championship. If the boys bring everything they’ve got and play their best, then it could quite possibly sit one against the other. Their father is there from the beginning, putting more pressure on the boys, coaching from the sidelines and intimidating everyone until they break or try too hard. Now it’s time to see who wins, who loses, and who is loyal.
Review: This wasn’t the best book, but it wasn’t the worst either. Knowledge of chess would have been really helpful, because it can get a little confusing when they are talking about the pieces and the moves if you don’t know anything about chess. Each chapter goes back and forth between perspectives, starting with Zeke. That can also be confusing at first, since you have to continue reading the chapter to know who is talking; but later their personalities show through enough to recognize who is “speaking.” There are some conflicts between the brothers that seem trivial, but then you remember they are brothers and it’s understandable. It’s an extremely quick read, something that can be read in one sitting, seeing as it is only 112 pages. I usually like reading from a male perspective, but this is just not a book with much character development or really story. I can’t say I would recommend this to most people, I would recommend this for someone younger, male, and into chess; but probably not most females.
Review: This wasn’t the best book, but it wasn’t the worst either. Knowledge of chess would have been really helpful, because it can get a little confusing when they are talking about the pieces and the moves if you don’t know anything about chess. Each chapter goes back and forth between perspectives, starting with Zeke. That can also be confusing at first, since you have to continue reading the chapter to know who is talking; but later their personalities show through enough to recognize who is “speaking.” There are some conflicts between the brothers that seem trivial, but then you remember they are brothers and it’s understandable. It’s an extremely quick read, something that can be read in one sitting, seeing as it is only 112 pages. I usually like reading from a male perspective, but this is just not a book with much character development or really story. I can’t say I would recommend this to most people, I would recommend this for someone younger, male, and into chess; but probably not most females.