Now a major motion picture starring Academy Award winner Lupita Nyongâo and David Oyelowo, directed by Mira Nair.
The âastonishingâ (The New York Times Book Review) and âinspirationalâ (Shelf Awareness) true story of Phiona Mutesiâa teenage chess prodigy from the slums of Uganda.
One day in 2005 while searching for food, nine-year-old Ugandan Phiona Mutesi followed her brother to a dusty veranda where she met Robert Katende.
Katende, a war refugee turned missionary, had an improbable dream: to empower kids in the Katwe slum through chessâa game so foreign there is no word for it in their native language. Laying a chessboard in the dirt, Robert began to teach. At first children came for a free bowl of porridge, but many grew to love the game thatâlike their daily livesârequires persevering against great obstacles. Of these kids, one girl stood out as an immense talent: Phiona.
By the age of eleven Phiona was her countryâs junior champion, and at fifteen, the national champion. Now a Woman Candidate Masterâthe first female titled player in her countryâs historyâPhiona dreams of becoming a Grandmaster, the most elite level in chess. But to reach that goal, she must grapple with everyday life in one of the worldâs most unstable countries. The Queen of Katwe is a âremarkableâ (NPR) and ârivetingâ (New York Post) book that shows how âPhionaâs story transcends the limitations of the chessboardâ (Robert Hess, US Grandmaster).