Perpetual Check

Children's Literature - Jennifer Lehmann

Zeke Mansfield and his brother Randy have one thing in common: chess. When they both qualify for the Northeast Regional of the Pennsylvania High School Chess Championship, they redefine their relationship with each other and with their overbearing father. The story's point of view alternates between the two brothers. Zeke is a high school senior and strong athlete who brings his competitive nature into every aspect of his life. Randy is a freshman with natural talent, who quietly rebels against his father by refusing to be ambitious. In just over one hundred pages, the book covers the short time span of a weekend. Even in that brief time, both well-developed characters mature; however, the father, who provides the primary conflict in the story, is too one-sided. He pushes his sons so hard that he disrupts their successes. He causes tension in their relationship, and he makes their mother unhappy. While we see both the image he wants to portray and his true weak character, we are given nothing that explains him or makes him sympathetic. The female characters in the story are not shown as completely as the two boys, because of the shortness of the tale. While this does not hurt the story-telling, it may make the book less appealing to girls. The inclusion of a wide variety of chess players, including beautiful girls and athletes, makes the story and the game of chess, appealing to more readers than might otherwise be interested. The simple explanations of the game and the moves make it accessible to a broad audience. Reviewer: Jennifer Lehmann

VOYA - Mary Ann Harlan

Anyone familiar with this author will find familiar themes in this book—competition, big fish in a little pond, parental conflict. Brothers Zeke and Randy hail from Sturbridge, the small town in which Wallace sets his stories. They are chess players, good enough to make the regional tournament, but there the similarities end. Zeke is an athlete, raised by his father to think he is special. Much like his father, however, he is not that special outside of Sturbridge town limits. Randy has given up sports, and he finds Zeke and his father's participation in athletics just a little ridiculous. As brothers they do not get along—they do not like each other, and as the dual narration illustrates, they do not understand each other. Their true feelings and motivations go undiscovered as they try to survive their father's pressure. The story takes place over twenty-four hours, as the boys move through the chess tournament. Inevitably they find themselves facing off in the semifinals, at which point their father finally pushes past Zeke's limits, in a move that brings the two boys together. There is no major event on which the plot swings, but instead the book is more character study. Zeke is not a particularly likeable character, but he is hiding more than Randy, making him more complex. The father is nothing more than a stereotypical "stage parent," but it is not too distracting as his role is to allow the boys to develop. Overall the book is a solid piece of writing from Wallace. Reviewer: Mary Ann Harlan

School Library Journal

Gr 7-11

Brothers Zeke and Randy differ in their physical appearance, in their attitudes, and in their relationships with their dad, with girls, and, most significantly for this story, in their approaches to chess. Zeke, a senior, seems made in Dad's hypercompetitive, decidedly obnoxious image. He shows prowess in soccer and tennis as well as chess, but is a bit too full of himself. Randy, a pudgy freshman, has developed his game quickly and now beats Zeke pretty consistently. In Scranton for the Northeast Regional of the Pennsylvania High School Chess Championships, thoughtful and relatively laid-back Randy faces his big brother in the semifinals, but not before each boy works his way through several interesting matches in which the author develops both the game strategies and the personalities involved as tensions escalate during the weekend tournament. While their climactic match is not the end of the story, the siblings have begun to see one another as allies while perceiving their father in a different light. This slim book capitalizes on dualities throughout, from the optical-illusion cover illustration to the brothers' transformed relationship, as well as the family crisis to which the title may most aptly allude. Given an untenable position, does one retreat, attack, or concede? Wallace cleverly positions Randy and Zeke for a win-win conclusion in this satisfying, engaging, and deceptively simple story.-Joel Shoemaker, Southeast Junior High School, Iowa City, IA

Kirkus Reviews

Fighting, flirting and familial pressure set the scene for an intense day at a regional chess tournament. Brothers Zeke and Randy Mansfield have never been close. Zeke is the soccer player who has to work hard for just about anything he wants. Randy is more relaxed and outgoing and is the only person who can regularly beat Zeke at chess. The only thing the boys think they have in common is the mutual but unspoken low opinion of their father. To the senior Mansfield, winning is everything; nothing ever fully pleases him. As the day of intense play progresses, Zeke and Randy become more open with each other regarding their parents and the state of their brotherly relationship. Chess may be an exciting game to play and even to watch, but the tension between the players and audience doesn't come through to readers during the scenes of play. The lack of physical action consequently slows the book down in parts, but the interesting characters, natural dialogue and overall slenderness keep it from checkmate by boredom. A decent choice for boys looking for mental rather than physical adventures. (Fiction. YA)