Perpetual Check

by Rich Wallace

Book Overview

Randy is a chubby ninth grader with a Cub Scout hair cut who guesses M&M colors with his eyes closed and makes up words. He's also a chess whiz who has defeated his older brother Zeke in nine of their... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0440239923
• ISBN13: 9780440239925
• Release Date: August 2010
• Publisher: Laurel Leaf Library
• Length: 112 Pages
• Weight: 0.15 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 4.1" x 6.7"
• Age Range: 12 years and up
• Grade Range: Grade 7 and higher

Customer Reviews

Loved this YA book

I am not a big fan of chess, however, I am a bit in awe of anyone who can play - especially if they elevate the playing to championship level. This is the basis of the new YA book Perpetual Check, written by Rich Wallace. I immediately liked the premise of this book. Two young boys, who happen to be brothers, share one big thing in common - they are both natural chess players. As with most brothers, there is a "popular" one and a least popular one and when they will find themselves competing against each other - we will get to discover just how far both brothers are willing to go to win. I have to say that I thought the characters of Zeke and Randy were very interesting and, in many ways, completely opposite of one another - yet, I still felt as though they had many things in common, despite the fact that neither would agree with this comment. As I mentioned, the characters were interesting, if not likeable all the time. However, I think this worked for the storyline - as it helped the reader discover the personality and the unknown sides of each brother - helping us make an obvious distinction between them, but also helping us to find the commonality between them. I also liked the plotline of the competition of chess. Of course, this book lacked the high intensity of sports competitions and did not have car chases, romances or high octane fights, but the author managed to set a scene of intense rivalry, stress and competition that worked very well. I found myself compulsively turning pages wanting to read more - wanting to find out how and who would win here. While this book may appear to be about sibling rivalry, it turns out that it is about way more than just your basic brother vs brother. There is a strong message to YA here and I really thought the whole premise worked very well together.